If Greg Abbott is “pausing” data centers, then why is a gas-powered data center being planned in Cedar Creek right now?
Thousands of its residents are now at risk of living near a gas-powered data center. It’s literally behind an outdoor school for kids.
Bastrop County risks getting sued if we try to stop it. What protects other Texas areas from the same fate?
This isn’t red vs blue.
Don’t let big tech poison the air we breathe.
“We love liberty and a lack of regulation. Data centers are taking advantage of it. They saw an opportunity.”
— Greg Harrell, Hood County GOP chair
THE SITUATION:
While data centers across Texas won’t be on the grid (for now), they can still use gas-guzzling power plants.
It sounds nuts, but it’s the reality. Multi-national corporations can adhere to Greg Abbott’s new data center directive by building their own gas power plants.
Read more about the gas-powered data center planned in Pecos, which will likely be the biggest polluting power plant in the country.
Read more about the gas-powered data center that is being planned in Cedar Creek.
THE COMPLICATION:
County commissioners have very little power to stop these gas-powered data centers in Texas.
So what if a data center comes your way? Your local politicians have little control over it. County commissioners in Texas can offer these companies tax abatements and incentives. Hill country officials passed a ban on data centers, but backed off when developers threatened a major lawsuit.
Austin and Houston can’t even pass laws about trees, and now rural counties can’t prevent data centers from polluting the air where we hike, hunt, fish, work, and live.
THE IMPLICATION:
We’re not okay with straining the Texas grid, so we’ll poison our air instead?
Do you breathe air in Texas? Perhaps you like hunting, fishing, or hiking? Fresh foods or BBQ? Then this impacts you.
Fumes from a single gas-powered data center in Memphis travel as far as a mile and are making residents sick. Gas power plants across Texas could generate as much pollution as 27 million cars on the road.
Data center companies pay so much for land, they’re pricing new farmers and ranchers out of the profession. Fewer local farmers and ranchers means less fresh food.
THE SOLUTION:
Take ten minutes to make three phone calls. Ask for a special session and moratorium on data centers, and vote out ANYONE who doesn’t prioritize this.
Help Texans stand up against multi-national corporations who are exploiting our laws.
Make sure you’re registered to vote. The deadline is October 5th.
Make three calls and ask for a special session and moratorium on data centers:
Governor Abbott
Your state representative
Your state senator
You can find your representatives here.
Are you in Bastrop or Cedar Creek? Contact politicians now.
Time is running out and we need your help.
