Source: NYT > Business (paywall)
The externalized health costs of powering AI infrastructure are now quantifiable enough that former EPA officials are breaking rank to sound public alarms. Environmental compliance around AI has shifted from theoretical to material liability. Data center pollution is a direct transfer of costs from tech companies to public health systems, concentrating damage in specific regions where power plants cluster. This is an environmental justice issue, not an abstract sustainability debate. A $20 billion annual damage bill by 2028 reframes AI scaling as a problem demanding regulatory capture and cost internalization, not voluntary commitments.