After years of making Texas an AI development zone, Governor Abbott recently came out against data centers in early August, following polling that indicated 56% of Texans oppose data centers, a whopping 62% being in rural areas.
Data centers and surveillance tech are causing a close race between Democrat Gina Hinojosa and incumbent Greg Abbott. MediaJustice supported grassroots organizers in Texas to turn that pressure into a diamond, pushing Abbott to take meaningful action.
We’re doing three things during this midterm cycle:
- The statewide coalition, Texas Data Center Rebellion is using the midterms as a pressure point to demand an Executive Order. We’ve supported these folks by integrating what we’ve learned from our work in New York.
- Hold direct actions, People’s Assemblies, and banner drops across Texas as part of our BroBots Vs. The People campaign. Here, communities set the terms.
- Coordinate strategy between Texas, Virginia, and New York, where organizing and political conditions overlap. We’re sharing regional takeaways to beat the industry’s playbook and use organizing wins to generate momentum.
Just ten months ago, Texas was dotted with unconnected site fights. Now, a statewide coalition is poised to take advantage of the best opportunity in our lifetime to stop Big Tech, fossil fuels, and nuclear power. That’s our theory of change in action.
