Key Takeaways
- Nearly 200 members of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement sent a letter urging President Donald Trump to abandon a 2025 executive order that promotes coal‑fired power for AI data centers.
- The activists argue that AI leadership must not come at the expense of children’s health, calling for renewable alternatives such as solar and geothermal energy.
- Prominent MAHA figures Zen Honeycutt and Charles Eisenstein spearheaded the letter, noting growing frustration within the movement over the administration’s environmental deregulation and pesticide policies.
- While the White House has not responded, the letter highlights a potential political flashpoint ahead of the November midterm elections, as data‑center proliferation sparks concerns over electricity costs, water use, and air‑noise pollution.
- Activists demand transparent review of data‑center siting and power‑sourcing decisions, insisting that health and safety should guide any expansion of AI infrastructure.
Activists Challenge Trump’s Coal‑Powered AI Data Center Plan
Nearly 200 activists aligned with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement have taken a public stand against President Donald Trump’s push to use coal to fuel the nation’s rapidly expanding artificial‑intelligence data centers. In a letter sent Friday to Trump, Kennedy, and several Cabinet officials, the group criticized a 2025 executive order aimed at boosting coal‑fired electricity to meet the soaring energy demands of AI facilities. The letter, first obtained by The Associated Press, frames the issue as a direct threat to public health, especially for children living near coal‑powered plants.
Letter to Trump Calls for Renewable Alternatives
The correspondence, signed by at least two former staffers from Kennedy’s 2024 presidential campaign, marks the first major MAHA mobilization focused explicitly on fossil fuels. It urges the administration to reconsider its coal‑centric approach and to explore cleaner power sources such as solar, geothermal, and wind energy for data‑center operations. By requesting a shift toward renewables, the activists hope to align the nation’s AI ambitions with broader public‑health goals that have long been a cornerstone of the MAHA platform.
Letter’s Core Argument: AI Leadership Should Not Harm Children’s Health
A pivotal passage in the letter reads: “We understand the importance of American leadership in artificial intelligence, national security, innovation, and economic growth. But American AI leadership should not come at the cost of a more toxic burden for American children.” This quote encapsulates the activists’ central contention—that the pursuit of technological supremacy must not sacrifice environmental safety or exacerbate health risks linked to coal emissions, including respiratory ailments and neurodevelopmental harms.
Administration Silence and Growing MAHA Discontent
The White House and the agencies addressed in the letter did not immediately respond to requests for comment, underscoring a pattern of limited engagement between the Trump administration and the MAHA coalition on environmental matters. Since Kennedy’s appointment as health secretary, the administration has enacted several policies welcomed by MAHA supporters—such as efforts to roll back certain childhood vaccine recommendations and to eliminate artificial dyes from food—yet many activists remain dissatisfied with the administration’s broader deregulatory agenda, particularly its endorsement of pesticides like glyphosate and its reluctance to tighten pollution controls.
Activist Voices Concerns Over Coal Ash and Community Health
Zen Honeycutt, a former Kennedy campaign staffer and founder of the advocacy group Moms Across America, elaborated on her motivations after reviewing the impacts of coal ash. “The data center push has been an overwhelmingly negative impact on our communities, and there are many in the MAHA movement that are extremely disappointed about that,” she said. Honeycutt added that she was troubled by the potential for coal‑ash contamination of water supplies and soil, as well as the broader land‑use and noise‑pollution consequences of large‑scale data‑center construction near residential areas.
MAHA Movement’s Wider Grievances with Trump Administration
Beyond coal, MAHA members have voiced frustration over the administration’s environmental deregulation, which they argue undermines public‑health protections. Some activists have indicated they may prioritize issue‑based voting over party loyalty in the upcoming midterm elections, signaling that the coalition’s growing discontent could influence key races. This shift reflects a broader trend within the movement: while many initially credited MAHA with helping Trump regain the White House in 2022, recent policy decisions have strained that alliance.
Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Coal’ Vision for AI Infrastructure
President Trump has repeatedly championed what he calls “big, beautiful coal,” framing it as an essential ingredient for winning the global AI race against China. In a recent remarks, he stated: “If I were the mayor of a town or the governor of a state, and I had a chance to get a big plant in, an AI plant or a data center, I would absolutely want it because the jobs are enormous and the money paid, the taxes paid, are just enormous.” This enthusiasm for coal‑powered data centers stands in stark contrast to the MAHA coalition’s call for renewable energy and heightened environmental scrutiny.
Data Centers as a Political Flashpoint in Upcoming Elections
Data centers have become a contentious issue across the political spectrum, with critics pointing to rising electricity bills, strained water resources, and unhealthy levels of air and noise pollution. Friday’s letter specifically asks the administration to require transparent review of data‑center siting and power‑sourcing decisions, and to honor existing environmental review requirements during the permitting process. As the November midterms approach, the intersection of AI expansion, energy policy, and public health could serve as a bellwether for voter sentiment in battleground districts.
Activists Demand Transparent Review and Health‑First Policies
In sum, the MAHA activists’ letter underscores a growing rift between a segment of the Trump‑aligned base and the administration’s energy‑centric AI strategy. By invoking children’s health, citing coal‑ash hazards, and demanding renewable alternatives, the group seeks to reframe the national conversation around AI infrastructure—from one focused solely on economic gains to one that places health, safety, and environmental stewardship at the forefront. Whether the administration will heed these calls remains uncertain, but the issue is poised to linger as a salient point of debate in the months ahead.
https://www.wcvb.com/article/activists-urge-trump-coal-power-ai-data-centers/73496507