Why is Fort Worth letting California tech bros call data center shots? | Opinion
Learn more
Fort Worth’s zoning commission dropped the ball when it quietly approved rezoning for multiple massive data centers in various stages of development without environmental impact studies, policies, regulations, a dedicated citizen task force or a five-to-ten-year strategic plan for the city. Commission members are grossly uninformed. Now, the city is poised to approve a property tax abatement for the $1 billion Edged data center, which would provide about 20 caretaker jobs that pay less than Fort Worth’s median income.
Why are we allowing California billionaire tech bros to reshape the future of Cowtown? These data centers will strain our water supply and our already unpredictable power grid past the breaking point. The City Council must inform itself and make thoughtful, educated decisions about our finite resources.
- Lauren Ivy Chiong, Fort Worth
Great again
The Artemis II mission reminded Americans of when America did great things. There was Apollo, a goal set by John F. Kennedy; Eisenhower’s vision of the Interstate Highway Act; Lyndon B. Johnson’s push for civil rights laws; and Richard Nixon’s creation of the Environmental Protection Agency. These actions required compromise among leaders who probably didn’t agree on every detail, but agreed enough to accomplish great things for America.
Discussions about government are now about corruption and incompetence. Americans are ashamed of the profanity, the desecration of the sacred and the cruelty toward vulnerable humanity. Since the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, wealthy individuals have gained more power over politicians and their policies.
America can do great things again, but not under the present administration.
- Loveta Eastes, Fort Worth
Legal abuse
The Star-Telegram recently wrote about the expense of making a living today. (April 15, star-telegram.com, “Here’s how much you need to earn a living wage in Texas in 2026, data shows”
One factor driving up costs is frivolous lawsuits. Texans pay an average of $1,943 more for goods and services every year because of excessive litigation and runaway court awards, according to a Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse study. Texans are paying more for groceries to housing to insurance because of lawsuits and court awards so massive they are known as “nuclear verdicts.”
Our civil justice system is designed to provide proper remedies for injured parties. Instead, too often we see abusive legal practices and runaway court awards threaten our economy and pose serious consequences for consumers. We urge state lawmakers to address the abusive legal practices behind nuclear verdicts.
- Robert Wood, Texans Against Lawsuit Abuse, Austin
In the know
Sunday’s opinion pieces included a Creators Syndicate column comparing Hungary’s Viktor Orban to Donald Trump, demonizing the “decadent” Donald and Melania Trump, and finding them and the MAGA movement “greedy.” (7C, “It’s the corruption, stupid — with Orban and Trump”) The biased comparison ignores all the differences and mitigating factors between Hungary and the United States.
The author derides conservatives and suggests we limit our news consumption to Fox News, Newsmax and MAGA media, but is silent on the fact that all “mainstream” national outlets lean left. CNN and MS NOW are completely left fringe.
Follow a mainstream news service such as ABC, Fox News, The Wall Street Journal and the Star-Telegram daily. Switch among televised news services and talk shows in the evening. Read editorials. Become informed. Your opinion will mean more.
- J. Mark Bronson, Fort Worth