Earthjustice

10/22/2026

Gas power plants are being built just for AI data centers. The result? Up to $10 billion in health-related costs each year. ​

Many of these proposed gas projects plan to use less efficient and dirtier generators, which will increase greenhouse gas emissions and deadly air pollution.​

Billion-dollar companies shouldn't be able to bypass safeguards meant to protect communities and the environment to power AI data centers.

10/21/2026

The rush to expand AI is driving a wave of gas-powered plants just to keep data centers running. Those new plants could make you sick.​

Our latest report with the Better Data Center Project estimates that the current gas "Bring Your Own Power" proposals alone could result in 330–580 premature deaths per year and $5–10 billion in annual monetized health damages.

10/20/2026

BREAKING: A judge has denied the Department of Justice's attempt to dismiss NAACP's Clean Air Act lawsuit against Elon Musk's company, xAI. The DOJ tried to argue that xAI couldn't be sued for breaking the law solely because the Trump administration says so. The court outright rejected that argument, but allowed the DOJ to intervene in the lawsuit.

Earthjustice proudly represents NAACP in this lawsuit to ensure communities can have their day in court and hold polluters accountable. We're challenging xAI's continued operation of an illegal, unpermitted gas-fired power plant to support its Colossus 2 data center. The gas plant is now one of the top sources of smog-forming NOx in the country.

10/20/2026

AI data center developers are rushing to build their own power plants, evading regulations and increasing air pollution.​

Most of these power plants are using inefficient, polluting gas generators that will worsen climate change and harm the health of nearby communities. This air pollution to power AI could cost over $5.6 billion every year in health impacts.

10/19/2026

We're suing. Earthjustice is representing a Samoan council of chiefs and two community groups in a new lawsuit to protect over 31 million acres of ocean. The lawsuit seeks to block a November 19 lease sale that would allow deep-sea mining off the coast of American Samoa.

The environmental devastation would be unprecedented: deep-sea mining could cause up to 25 times more damage to the world’s biodiversity than mining on land.​

The Trump administration failed to evaluate the environmental impacts of the deep-sea mining or development that this lease sale is intended to unleash on the ocean waters surrounding American Samoa. Mining at this scale to extract mineral deposits from the sea floor would result in irreversible biodiversity loss and habitat destruction.

10/18/2026

Public comments make a difference by: ​

✅ Influencing the final regulation ​
✅ Pushing back on false narratives ​
✅ Helping lawyers make their case in court

The Trump administration is slamming the door on public participation in our democracy. Public comments are one way to be heard.

10/17/2026

The Trump administration is trying to fast-track approvals for new oil and gas drilling in the Western Arctic. ​

Opening long-protected areas of the Western Arctic and changing the rules to favor the oil industry would threaten wildlife habitat, clean water, and the climate.​

The administration is taking public comments, and we need as many people as possible to speak up for the Western Arctic.

10/16/2026

At the request of the oil industry, the Trump administration is trying to push through a new permitting process that could fast-track major oil development in Alaska’s Western Arctic. The proposal would limit government oversight, cut out public input, and shortcut environmental reviews.​

We must protect the Arctic—for the sake of the wildlife that can’t live elsewhere, the communities that depend on these lands, and our global climate.

10/15/2026

You have a right to know about projects that could affect your health, community, and environment, and to weigh in before decisions are made. But now that right is under attack by the federal government.

Americans’ power to weigh in on projects planned for their communities is being quietly whittled away. We’re fighting back and need your help.

10/15/2026

Help save the Western Arctic. At the request of the oil industry, the Trump administration is trying to limit environmental reviews of new oil and gas drilling in the Arctic and cut the public out of the process. Speak up now to defend this irreplaceable landscape.