The AI power boom has opened a fault line inside Donald Trump’s political coalition: MAHA activists want a health-first energy strategy, while the administration is leaning on coal to meet data centers’ enormous appetite for electricity.

Nearly 200 activists associated with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again movement sent Trump a letter Friday opposing coal-fired generation for AI infrastructure.¹ Their appeal comes as the administration advances policies aimed at preserving and expanding coal power, arguing that rising demand from data centers makes the fuel strategically important.²

The activists’ argument is rooted in the movement’s broader focus on toxic exposures. The letter warns that “data centers should not become the justification for burning more coal,” pointing to soot, mercury and coal ash containing heavy metals.² It asks the administration to bring MAHA leaders, farmers and physicians into discussions on “health-first standards for AI infrastructure,” while favoring solar and storage, advanced geothermal and greater efficiency.

Zen Honeycutt, founder of Moms Across America and a signer, cast the fight as a natural extension of MAHA’s agenda. “We’re about not having toxins impact the health of our families and our communities and farmers,” she said.² The coalition’s message is not anti-AI; it argues the United States can lead on technology and energy without leaving children with “more mercury in their bodies” or soot in their lungs.²

The White House rejects the premise that its energy agenda sacrifices public health. Deputy press secretary Taylor Rogers said emissions reached their lowest point in nearly 30 years during Trump’s first term, calling that “proof that we can both lower energy costs and ensure clean air and water for Americans.”²

That leaves a sharp political split: MAHA activists see coal-backed AI growth as a preventable health risk; Trump officials see resistance to coal as a threat to affordable, reliable power and the AI race.