MAHA warns Trump against coal-powered AI data centers
TL;DR
Prominent figures in the Make America Healthy Again movement are telling President Trump that "data centers should not become the justification for burning more coal. " Why it matters: The appeal, in a joint letter, collides with Trump officials' support for coal to help power AI. It cites coal's public health and environmental toll due to soot pollution, mercury, and byproducts called "coal ash" that contain heavy metals.
Nauti's Take
The letter is an opportunity for the debate because it reframes AI energy from climate policy to concrete health effects, which reaches people who tune climate arguments out. The limit is that solar plus storage and geothermal cannot cover data center baseload at the speed the buildout demands.
Anyone planning sites should check the power mix early, since it is becoming a political risk.
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