Washington, D.C. – In response to the White House’s Executive Order released December 11th, “Ensuring a National Policy Framework for the Artificial Intelligence,” Climate Justice Alliance Legislative Director Mar Zepeda and NAACP Director of the Center for Environmental and Climate Justice Abre’ Conner issued the following joint statement:
“Climate Justice Alliance (CJA) and the NAACP strongly condemn the Trump Administration’s Executive Order, ‘Ensuring a National Policy Framework for the Artificial Intelligence, ‘ which seeks to block states from regulating the responsible use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) by weaponizing federal agencies against them.
This blatant example of federal overreach and disregard for the 10th Amendment makes clear that the Administration intends to force through unregulated AI development—fueled by data-center bailouts and carve-outs from state permitting laws—without regard for the safety, public health, or well-being of hard-working families. This Administration and its billionaire backers want to roll out AI infrastructure as quickly as possible with complete disregard for our people and our planet. This is a power grab that hands Big Tech billionaires the reins after cashing in on years of campaign contributions.
Instead of protecting communities and our environment from the well-documented dangers of an unregulated AI industry, the Executive Order opens the door for private industry to dictate governance and forces states to surrender their duty to protect residents.At a time when permitting laws are already facing constant deregulation attacks at the federal level, we cannot further clear the way for:
- States being punished for doing their job to protect our environment and vulnerable communities;
- Data centers being built in already over-polluted neighborhoods with little to no public input;
- The erosion of the few remaining air-quality protections that safeguard Black, Brown, low-income, and Tribal communities.
Unregulated AI development will drive a surge in data center construction, which will have massive energy, water, and land demands whose impacts will inevitably fall hardest on predominantly Black, Brown, low-income, and Indigenous communities. These same communities rarely reap any benefits of AI due to the digital divide, are more at risk of job displacement, and face disproportionate exposure to hyperscale data center pollution. Yet, across the country, secrecy and backroom deals have already sidelined meaningful community participation. Using the Constitution as a weapon to exclude the informed voices of residents is a giant leap backwards.
And when the speculative AI bubble bursts, as bubbles do, it will once again be Black and Brown communities left with the stranded, toxic, and costly infrastructure Big Tech abandons.
In the face of this blatant and unconstitutional federal overreach, we call on state attorneys general to organize, strengthen environmental and climate justice protections and systems, defend states’ rights to regulate AI, and protect their constituents from the dangers of unrestrained AI-driven data center development.
CJA and the NAACP remain committed to fighting undemocratic and dangerous attempts to deregulate AI, block state’s power, and expand AI implementation that perpetuates harm, inequity, and injustice—especially in overpolluted and most impacted communities.”
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Context: In late August this year, CJA joined the NAACP in a two-day convening in Memphis, TN where we collaborated on a set of principles informed by other frontline leaders that lists out our demands and solutions to the buildout of data centers. See those HERE. CJA also joined NAACP for a two-day summit to confront the rapid expansion of AI data centers and their disproportionate impact on Black, Brown, and low-income communities in December 2025
