EPA is going all in on artificial intelligence, proposing significant staffing and cash to promote the technology’s development and use.
Budget documents released Friday provide details on the agency’s AI plans. Those include not only how EPA will incorporate AI in its day-to-day work but also ease regulations for the build-out of data centers that the Trump administration sees as crucial for the United States to win the global race to develop and deploy artificial intelligence.
The documents also show the administration’s push to slash funding for water restoration in blue states and pay heed to the “Make America Healthy Again” movement, part of President Donald Trump’s winning electoral coalition. Overall, annual funding for EPA would be chopped more than 50 percent, down to $4.2 billion, under the budget request.
EPA wants to make America “the AI Capital of the World,” according to the agency’s fiscal 2027 blueprint. That is one goal of Administrator Lee Zeldin’s five-pillar EPA plan,“Powering the Great American Comeback,” which also includes protecting the environment, restoring “energy dominance,” permitting reform and backing the auto industry.
