Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin might want the United States to become the “AI capital of the world,” but he might not have anticipated that the technology would turn on his own pro-polluter agenda so quickly.
The EPA rolled out some internal artificial intelligence programs for its staffers in May and employees were quick to notice when the smart technology clashed with what Zeldin has been spouting from his soapbox.
According to Politico’s E&E News, the new AI tool listed power companies as the No. 2 contributor to climate change. And while it doesn’t take a lot of mental work to derive that major energy producers are emitting massive amounts of pollution, Zeldin’s actions say otherwise.
The former GOP congressman from New York made moves last month to end greenhouse gas limits on power plants. In other words, these industries contributing to the worsening conditions of our weather and breathing conditions will go practically unchecked until someone else with a brain—or a heart—takes over Zeldin’s role.
And while Zeldin’s main goal is to “drive a dagger through the heart of climate change religion,” his beloved AI takes the matter much more seriously.
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“Climate change is real and is supported by a vast body of scientific evidence,” the AI program said in a statement obtained by E&E News. “It refers to significant and lasting changes in the Earth’s climate, particularly an increase in global temperatures, largely due to human activities such as burning fossil fuels, deforestation and industrial processes.”
And as the Trump administration pushes to sign more offshore oil leases, fast-track the approval process for more uranium mines, and chop down trees in our national forests by bypassing environmental acts, AI programs that contradict the right-wing agenda can only help those who are truly fighting for environmental protection.
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