I oppose President Trump’s plan to use military bases to export coal out of the West Coast for three reasons.
First, this proposal puts an unnecessary burden on the military. The military is highly motivated and will work hard on all assigned tasks, but this is known as mission creep. The military cannot do everything and this falls well outside military expertise in fighting and disaster relief. The military plate is already full and this extra mission necessarily means less capability doing the military’s core missions. As a retired commander in the United States Navy, I can personally confirm this.
This proposal also bypasses the authority of state environmental regulation. Federal government traditionally may do this only if it is imposing greater standards, not if it is overruling standards already in place.
Finally, this proposal expands the fossil-fuel industry using tax dollars. The United Nations and the vast majority of credentialed scientists writing in the field have documented the rising prices of climate change. This is the last place we should put our tax dollars.
Trump has no military experience to make this determination. Going to a private school and being a draft dodger does not constitute military experience.
