Datacenters Drive Childhood Pollution

Datacenter buildouts and operations increasingly contribute to local and regional air pollution because they draw power from fossil‑heavy grids and use large diesel backup generators, producing soot and ozone precursors. Those pollution burdens disproportionately affect children and communities of color, magnifying health and developmental risks documented in the ALA 2022–2024 data. — Framing datacenter expansion as an air‑quality and environmental‑justice issue forces tech policy, grid planning, and permitting debates to account for children's health and racial disparities, not just energy or economic metrics.