Washington DC - President Donald Trump on Monday signed a series of memoranda to ramp up fossil fuel production for what he called "defense readiness."

Trump on Monday signed memos to boost domestic petroleum production, expand coal mining, and increase natural gas and liquefied natural gas capacity.

Additional memos called for accelerating the development, manufacturing, and deployment of large-scale energy and energy-related infrastructure, as well as electric grid infrastructure.

"Consistent with that declaration, I find that ensuring resilient domestic petroleum production, refining, and logistics capacity is central to United States defense readiness," one of the memos read.

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"Petroleum fuels the Nation’s Armed Forces, industrial base, and crucial infrastructure. Without immediate Federal action, United States defense capabilities will remain vulnerable to disruption."

The memos invoked the Cold War-era Defense Production Act, which allows the president to expedite the supply of materials and services deemed necessary for national defense.

They also cited Trump's January 20, 2025, executive order declaring a "national energy emergency" and calling for a significant expansion of drilling.

Since retaking the White House, Trump has taken a number of steps to expand the US fossil fuel industry – despite overwhelming scientific evidence that doing so severely endangers the stability of life of Earth.