Posted Aug 23, 2026 at 10:04 PM UTCRThe VergeThe latest turn in the data center debate.The Wall Street Journal and New York Times are both reporting on politicians like Greg Abbott and Josh Shapiro suddenly bashing types of projects they once championed. The Washington Post has a chart showing how online posts about data centers from both Democrat and Republican politicians have shifted from being mostly positive in early 2025 to being mostly negative.On Sunday, Abbott appeared on ABC’s This Week, saying that by moving too fast, the industry “…basically dug their own grave for the problem that’s been caused for them, and that’s why they got the backlash they deserve.”Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.Richard Lawler
The latest turn in the data center debate.
The Wall Street Journal and New York Times are both reporting on politicians like Greg Abbott and Josh Shapiro suddenly bashing types of projects they once championed. The Washington Post has a chart showing how online posts about data centers from both Democrat and Republican politicians have shifted from being mostly positive in early 2025 to being mostly negative. On Sunday, Abbott appeared on ABC’s This Week, saying that by moving too fast, the industry “…basically dug their own grave for the problem that’s been caused for them, and that’s why they got the backlash they deserve.” [Link: Why everyone is turning on data centers | https://www.theverge.com/podcast/971855/ai-data-center-backlash-protests-florida-bipartisan | The Verge]
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