Voters in Texas agree: They hate data centers

AI Summary

Data center projects around Austin are facing growing local opposition, including disputes over a proposed site in Taylor, recall attempts against officials in Temple, and a citywide ban in San Marcos. The controversy reflects concern about rapid data center development and its effects on local communities and land use.

Ask Texas NAACP president Gary Bledsoe what it's been like to see data center developers descend upon Austin and its surrounding suburbs and he can rattle off project after project facing opposition from locals. There's the fight in Taylor over plans to build a data center at a site that's supposed to be a park. Temple, around 40 miles away, is another sore spot, Bledsoe says. The mayor and City Council members there face recall attempts over data center developments. And some 30 miles outside of Austin, San Marcos became the first city in all of Texas to ban data centers. Nowhere in the world are data centers growing more explosively than … Read the full story at The Verge.