Trump’s new EPA pick wants to make the U.S. the AI ‘capital of the world’

President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plans to “pursue energy dominance” to “make the United States the artificial intelligence capital of the world,” he said in an interview with Fox News on Tuesday.

Looking forward to getting straight to work as part of President Trump's Cabinet to unleash US energy dominance, make America the AI capital of the world, bring American auto jobs back home, and so much more. pic.twitter.com/zGGLIRMrd6

— Lee Zeldin (@leezeldin) November 12, 2024

Trump announced Monday that he would nominate former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin to helm the nation’s top environmental agency, which regulates emissions, when he takes office in January. During Trump’s third presidential campaign, he spoke often of deregulating industries and ensuring environmental protections aren’t hampering businesses.

“[Zeldin] will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards,” Trump said on his social media platform, Truth Social, when announcing the appointment.

Trump’s last go-round in office had wide impacts on the environment. He picked a coal lobbyist to lead the EPA, rolled back more than 100 environmental protections, and exited the Paris climate accord.

It now appears that making sure AI and its energy-sucking data centers won’t be held back are top of mind for the incoming leader. Artificial intelligence is notorious for requiring massive compute to train systems. That, in turn, increases carbon emissions. Goldman Sachs Research estimated in May that data center power demand will grow 160% by 2030 as the AI revolution gathers steam and efficiency gains wane.

The Biden administration has also embraced artificial intelligence. The Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security conducted AI pilots to address vulnerabilities in government networks, the Department of Justice and Department of Education worked to combat AI-generated image-based sexual abuse, and the administration issued a first-ever National Security Memorandum on AI “to ensure the United States leads the world’s development of safe, secure, and trustworthy AI.”

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