The Liberty Daily 
Recently, the debate about data centers has exploded across the country. Americans, who disagree on various political issues, are finding common ground in opposing data centers.
According to a March 2026 Gallup poll, Americans are solidly opposed to “the construction of a data center in your area to support artificial intelligence, or AI, technology in the U.S.” In fact, more people oppose an AI data center in their area (71%) than a nuclear power plant (53%). The poll found that strong support for data centers is practically non-existent: 7%.
What are data centers? They can be defined as gigantic facilities that “house computing equipment that helps power AI technology used by businesses, universities, and other institutions.”
The drawback for many Americans is that the data centers “cover large areas of land, require extensive amounts of electricity to operate, and need substantial water to cool the equipment.” This leads to understandable “concerns about their impact on the environment and local electric bills.”
In Texas, the opposition to data centers was so fierce that Republican Governor Greg Abbott “pressed pause on any new data center…in the State of Texas.” In a Sunday interview on ABC’s This Week, Abbott said that the data centers received justifiable “backlash” from residents and “dug their own grave” by refusing to work closely with local governments and state officials.
Henceforth, Abbott will demand that all data centers “lower the cost of electricity for consumers” and not disturb “neighborhoods or rural communities.” Among the other “guardrails” that Abbott is instituting for data centers are requirements that water not be taken “from communities that need it” and power not be taken from “the Texas power grid that’s needed.”
Abbott believes that his plan is the “most comprehensive” of “any governor in the United States of America to respond to the data center challenge.”
While Abbott is actively monitoring data centers in Texas, Louisiana has practically no “guardrails” in place. As noted by Chris Alexander, Co-Founder of the Louisiana Citizen Advocacy Group, the public is “completely in the dark” about the “real cost” of data centers because “Many of our elected representatives in Louisiana have voluntarily entered into Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) with the richest corporations in the world, prohibiting them from talking.”
What is publicly known is very disturbing. For example, the Louisiana Public Service Commission passed “the Lightning Amendment” last December to allow data centers to cover only “50% of their massive power generation costs for 15 years.”
At that point, Louisiana ratepayers will have to pay all the costs, which is exactly what they will do for new transmission lines costing $550 million from three natural gas plants to Meta’s $10 billion data center under construction in Richland Parish.
This new data center will be “among the largest in the Western Hemisphere when it’s completed in 2030.” It will consume more than “twice the power” used by the entire “city of New Orleans on a hot summer day.”
As Louisiana’s elected officials embrace the construction of massive data centers, some activists are raising concerns. Logan Burke of the Alliance for Affordable Energy notes that residents near data centers report poor “water pressure,” unreliable “power,” and rising “utility bills.”
In addition, Alexander complains that the large corporations building the data centers “receive massive tax breaks,” with “zero job guarantees.” Thus, if their “projected” job-creation estimates fail to materialize, as they often do, these corporate giants will face no penalties.
Despite these concerns, President Donald Trump is a strong proponent of data centers “if you pick the right location.” Trump stated that smaller communities will benefit because data centers will bring “jobs and lots of money and lower taxes.”
This message does not align with most Republicans. The recent Gallup poll indicated that 63% of Republicans are either “strongly” or “somewhat” opposed to the construction of a data center “where they live.”
While there is a data center debate, there is no debate about AI’s expanding influence on the lives of every American. The real question is whether huge data centers are necessary to accommodate AI’s advancement.
Jay Valentine, entrepreneur, engineer, and founder of DataCenterMadness.com, believes that the future of AI is “smaller, local and sovereign.” He notes that China, our main AI competitor, is not building enormous data centers.
Valentine says that AI is moving toward “distributed computing and quantum, neither of which uses centralized data centers.”
In Valentine’s view, “centralized data centers are a technology at end-of-life,” and the companies that need them, such as “Oracle, Palantir, Microsoft, META, and other tech companies,” are utilizing outdated technology.
If Valentine is right, the states building gargantuan data centers are creating obsolete facilities that will have to be retrofitted for other uses, such as the thousands of empty shopping malls across the country today.
Grassroots Americans of all political backgrounds understand there is something very wrong with the stampede to build data centers in rural areas, which will destroy the quality of life in their communities.
At a recent Texas State Senate hearing, Valentine reported that a crowd of 150 citizens arrived to speak against data centers, while zero were there to speak in favor of them. Instead, “lobbyists and utility guys” were given priority and allowed to tout the advantages of data centers.
Finally, after 10 hours of paid speakers, the public was given a chance to voice their opposition. While the “money guys” were given unlimited time, the average citizens were forced to limit their testimony to two minutes.
Valentine had his opportunity to speak at 11:15 p.m. He said the “magic words” that there is “no need for a centralized data center.” He said a handheld $4,000 computer can “run a data center application – using less power than a kitchen microwave.” He said, “Oracle and Palantir need data centers,” but “A.I. does not need data centers.”
Another group that does not need or want data centers is the American people.
Jeff Crouere is a native New Orleanian and his award-winning program, “Ringside Politics,” airs Saturdays from 1-2 p.m. CT nationally on Real America’s Voice TV Network & AmericasVoice.News and weekdays from 7-9 a.m. & 6-7 p.m. CT on WGSO 990-AM & Wgso.com. He is the President and General Manager of WGSO Radio, a political columnist, the author of America’s Last Chance, and provides regular commentaries on the Jeff Crouere YouTube channel and at Crouere.net. For more information, email him at jcrouere@gmail.com.
