Stop Trump’s Plan to Weaken the US Military With Coal Order

President Trump just issued an executive order that forces the Pentagon to buy electricity from aging coal-fired power plants — even as many of those plants are already being phased out. This isn’t about “energy security.” It’s about propping up a dying industry by dragging the U.S. military backward.

Let’s be clear: this weakens America.

The world's strongest military should not be dependent on the country's dirtiest, oldest energy source. Coal plants are expensive, polluting, and increasingly unreliable — and tying our bases to them creates a strategic liability.

This isn’t strength. It’s negligence.

Military leaders have warned for years that climate change is already a national security threat — flooding bases, damaging infrastructure, and increasing extreme weather disasters. Forcing the Pentagon to lock in more coal only pours fuel on the fire.

Meanwhile, modern energy solutions like solar, battery storage, and resilient microgrids can provide cheaper, cleaner, more secure power right where it’s needed. That’s how you protect readiness. That’s how you protect troops. That’s how you protect the country.

Instead, this plan wastes taxpayer dollars, increases pollution, and leaves military installations stuck with failing infrastructure from the past — all to rescue coal executives who can’t compete in today’s energy economy.

America does not become stronger by clinging to coal.

Our service members deserve reliable power. Our communities deserve clean air. And our country deserves leadership that moves forward — not backward.

Sign this petition to tell Donald Trump: Stop forcing coal on the military. Stop weakening the United States.

Sign this petition to defend our troops, our security, and America’s future.

The petition reads: President Trump, we urge you to abandon your reckless plan to force the U.S. military to rely on outdated coal-fired power plants — a move that would weaken America and undermine national security. Stop using our troops to prop up the coal industry and instead invest in clean, reliable energy that strengthens our military and protects our future.
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Source:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2026/02/11/trump-coal-pentagon-order/