EDITORIAL: Abbott muddles data center challenge by baiting intrastate squabbling

Texas, like many states, is facing one of the most difficult development dilemmas that modern computing has brought, so naturally our hyperpartisan governor has elevated political pandering over problem-solving.

The insatiable demand for processing capacity to win the artificial intelligence war has prompted calls for doubling or tripling the number of data centers in Texas. And the worry that such proliferation will stress electrical infrastructure and regional water supplies beyond their breaking points - while disturbing the peace of many quiet communities - keeps Texans everywhere up at night.

For Gov. Greg Abbott, though, not all Texans everywhere are equally deserving of his concern.

During a campaign event in Bullard, about 15 miles south of Tyler, Abbott declared Texas must prohibit building artificial intelligence data centers in rural Texas neighborhoods. He said shielding people. such as those in the audience that day, from data centers is part of "fighting for East Texas values."

Suddenly, there are "East Texas values," and they apparently are superior to and more meritorious of defending than Central Texas, North Texas or South Texas values.

The message is clear: Don't worry, red voters. I'll direct those nasty data centers to the blue voters' neighborhoods.

This comes as Texas Republican leaders, particularly those seeking contested elected offices, deal with the conflict between economic development and innovation and their constituents' wariness of data centers.

On one hand:

* Texas leaders - Abbott especially - have boasted about the state's soft regulatory touch as part of its industry-friendly environment. Abbott has declared Texas will be the "epicenter" of AI development, praising Google in November for investing $40 billion in cloud and AI infrastructure in the state.

* The Republican-led Texas Legislature has stifled attempts by local governments, especially cities, to regulate any type of business or industry within their jurisdictions.

On the other hand:

* Constituents don't want data centers in their communities. A University of Texas/Texas Politics Project poll in June found 56% of those surveyed oppose building data centers nearby. Opposition was strongest among rural residents, at 62%, and suburban residents, at 60%.

Given that, it's unsurprising that county and municipal officials are desperate for tools to hold data center development at bay. In mid-June the San Marcos City Council voted 4-3 to amend its zoning rules, defining data centers in a way that bars them from being permissible in its jurisdiction. We'll see whether its actions hold up legally.

In May, commissioners in Hill County - south of Fort Worth with roughly 40,000 residents - voted 3-2 to implement a one-year moratorium on data center construction in its unincorporated areas. Residents had expressed concerns about a proposed 300-acre center.

But in June, after the developer filed a $100 million lawsuit, the county blinked, rescinding its moratorium. Instead, it adopted a checklist for data center developers, but it's unclear whether that will be effective.

A few days later, in Angelina County, another small East Texas community, as residents called on their leaders for action on a data center proposal, County Judge Keith Wright lamented they had no power to stop it.

"We have no authority to do a moratorium or stop any type of development in the county," Wright said, according to the Texas Tribune. "Texas legislators have consciously limited what counties can do, and they've done it on purpose. They don't trust us."

His comments reflect frustration that comes not only from feeling powerless, but also from feeling in the dark, as data center operators have shown themselves to be nontransparent.

Last year, the Texas Water Development Board surveyed data center operators regarding their water use, among other things. But only 17% of the more than 340 data centers operating in Texas responded, an agency executive told a Texas House committee.

We need more from our governor than the partisan politics of the day.

Facts, not emotions or political considerations, need to guide decisions about where data centers can be built, and how to minimize their environmental impacts. Making this a rural versus urban/suburban issue may appeal to certain voters, but it doesn't solve the state's conundrum.

Instead, it pits Texas regions against each other, spurring them to focus on pushing a problem on others rather than working together to solve it - and distracting from the failed leadership that got us here.

Perhaps that's the point.

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