A new report suggests that nearly half of children in the U.S. are breathing unsafe air, with policies under Donald Trump potentially accelerating the problem. The American Lung Association has released its 27th annual “State of the Air” report, which found that 152 million U.S. citizens live in “areas with unhealthy levels of ozone or particle pollution.”
The problem has worsened ever since the Trump administration rolled back the EPA’s 2009 Endangerment Finding. Under this determination, the EPA deemed greenhouse gases harmful to human life and the environment, thereby granting it legal authority to regulate them under the Clean Air Act. According to The Guardian, “Donald Trump has launched an unprecedented assault upon the environment, instigating 145 actions to undo rules protecting clean air, water and a livable climate.”
Trump’s EPA slashed over $1.5 billion in funding intended to help rural communities address extreme air pollution. pic.twitter.com/7Jq9OdBkri
— FactPost (@factpostnews) April 22, 2026
Guardian’s report cited these actions in 2025, just 100 days into the Trump administration. The American Lung Association report further underscores the impact environmental damage has on young children. “The report finds that 33.5 million children in the U.S., or 46% of people under 18 years old, live in an area that received a failing grade for at least one measure of air pollution,” the report claims.
“More than 7 million children (10% of all kids) live in a community with failing grades for all three measures.” Harold Wimmer, the CEO of the American Lung Association, urged the American public to look into the matter and prioritize safe air. While he didn’t call out Donald Trump by name, he did cite that a number of policies have had a lasting impact on safe, breathable air. “Clean air is not something we can take for granted. It takes work,” Wimmer said in a quote from the report.
“For decades, people in the U.S. have breathed cleaner air thanks to the Clean Air Act. Unfortunately, that progress is now at risk due to extreme heat and wildfires, fueled by climate change, and policy changes that are making the problem worse. Wimmer urged the American public to “strengthen air pollution standards.” He claimed that in light of the rising air pollution, the EPA is “doing the opposite” of what it stands for.
“In the last year, EPA has weakened enforcement and rolled back rules that would have protected kids from power plant and vehicle pollution,” the American Lung Association CEO revealed. The report also highlighted “data centers as a growing source of air quality concern” for US citizens. As the advent of AI continues to expand, and with a president who doesn’t hesitate to use AI-generated images and videos, data centers are being built across the country.
🚨 DATA CENTERS ARE QUIETLY DESTROYING AMERICA 🚨
While everyone’s distracted…massive server farms are spreading across the country, and the damage is real.
Here’s what they DON’T want you talking about:
💧 Water Drain
One single data center can use millions of gallons of… pic.twitter.com/rNojobkGHU
— Jack Danger (@JackDangerLIVE) April 14, 2026
Data centers powered by fossil fuels “contribute significantly to local air pollution burdens.” Many data centers also use water to prevent servers from overheating. A Forbes report highlighted that in 2023 alone, “US data centers directly consumed an estimated 17 billion gallons of water.” These numbers are set to “double or quadruple” by 2028 if the Trump administration continues to make policy decisions that harm the environment.
