There is no hotter debate unfolding across rural America than the expansion of data center infrastructure. Here in Texas, I have been hearing from folks who are raising legitimate concerns about water use, electricity demand, landowner rights, and whether massive Big Tech companies can be trusted to operate responsibly. I understand those concerns because I share many of them myself.
The scale and coordination of the rural backlash against data centers is impossible to ignore. The passion is real, and the movement has become increasingly bipartisan, drawing support from both conservatives and liberals alike. The result is a growing wave of opposition that is beginning to stop many of these projects before they ever get off the ground, with calls for moratoriums across the nation.
Typically, if both sides of the aisle can see eye to eye on a single issue, this is a sign that it may be a just cause. But is it?
DATA CENTERS COULD HELP YOUNG AMERICANS OWN A HOME
For decades, radical environmentalists and far-left activists have fought pipelines, power plants, transmission lines, and American energy production. They claim we are running out of oil. They say fossil fuels will destroy civilization. They argue that economic growth, technological advancement, and capitalism itself are the problems.
Now, many of those same tactics are being redirected toward artificial intelligence, data centers, and the infrastructure America needs to compete in the next technological revolution. These efforts often present themselves as completely grassroots and organic.
But are they?
Recent reporting by Power the Future raises serious questions. According to the report, Chinese state-linked propaganda outlets may have helped fund and amplify anti-data center activism in the United States as America and Communist China compete for dominance in artificial intelligence. Frankly, if proven, that should not surprise anyone.
Right now, Beijing is aggressively expanding its own AI infrastructure, power generation, and technology capabilities. They understand the stakes, and for them, it’s just as much a matter of their national security as it is ours. So, we should ask ourselves a simple question: why wouldn’t an adversarial nation want Americans to believe that building new infrastructure is dangerous?
Conservatives should also ask themselves why Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), and other far-left activists suddenly find themselves aligned with narratives that ultimately benefit Communist China’s technological ambitions over America’s. That should concern every Republican. I know it sends a shiver down my spine.
America did not become the greatest nation on earth through pessimism or managed decline. Americans solve problems. We innovate. We build. When demand rises, we produce more energy, improve technology, and expand infrastructure. That free-market spirit built modern civilization and made the United States the world’s economic engine.
As leaders, we should welcome scrutiny and ensure our natural resources are protected. That is unequivocal, but at what point does responsible oversight become fear-driven obstructionism?
The reality is simple: artificial intelligence is here. The question is not whether AI will exist, but who will control it.
Will the future of AI be shaped by the United States, grounded in free enterprise, transparency, and accountability? Or will it be shaped by Communist China, where surveillance, censorship, and state control are embedded in everyday life?
Those are the real stakes of this debate.
RESISTANCE TO DATA CENTERS GROWS NATIONWIDE
As conservatives, we must ask ourselves: Do we still believe in abundance over decline, growth over stagnation, and innovation over fear? Are we letting the invisible hand of Communist China sabotage our nation’s technological future?
The future belongs to those willing to build it. America must lead, not retreat.
Wayne Christian is a Texas Railroad Commissioner.