California Health Professional Student Alliance (CaHPSA)

In California and across the US, data centers are rapidly expanding to meet the growing market for new forms of Artificial Intelligence (AI). With this expansion comes increased energy and water use, air and noise pollution, and added carbon emissions to power these centers. The health implications of AI’s environmental impact is damning, with total public health costs from pollution-related asthma, cancers, and other diseases approaching an estimated $20 billion per year. This proposal emphasizes the need for environmental regulations and reporting requirements on existing and proposed data centers’ energy and water usage. The proposed solution mandates publicly available energy audits, along with analysis of these reports to inform future policy related to zoning ordinances and renewable energy requirements. Within this, limits must be set on proposed data centers to ensure sustainable use of California’s limited water resources and a reduction in pollutants that adversely affect the health of surrounding communities.