An eclectic coalition of organizations has formed against data centers in Texas, bringing together civil rights leaders, environmentalists, rural advocates and more in the mounting bipartisan resistance to the facilities as they proliferate statewide.
The group, called We the People Texas, announced its formation at the state Capitol building in Austin Monday, according to a report by Austin NBC affiliate KXAN. At the kickoff event, the group also revealed public records it said show previously unreported data center developments involving publicly owned water resources.
The coalition includes the Texas NAACP, Save Rural Texas, Public Citizen, the Texas Coalition Against Data Centers, Don’t Drain Texas and other activist groups.
“We are a politically diverse group, but water is something that affects every Texan,” speakers said throughout the event, KXAN reports.
The group is pushing for greater transparency about water consumption and additional oversight before more projects move forward.
Texas NAACP President Gary Bledsoe expressed concerns over what he believes is a growing disconnect between Texas’ long-term water outlook and the state’s increasing number of data centers.
“There is a clear and present danger to the survival of the conditions in our state,” Bledsoe reportedly said.
Jet Parker, co-founder of Save Rural Texas, argued that farmers and ranchers in unincorporated areas of the state are watching large-scale developments take over their prairieland.
“We are watching our water supply diminish while our vast open cattle ranches and expansive farms are destroyed by the industrial clutter that comes with AI data centers, wind and solar farms, 765-kV transmission lines and battery energy storage system sites,” Parker said.
Members are calling for an immediate pause and review of water commitments tied to future data center projects.
Earlier this month, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called for a temporary pause on issuing data center air permits through the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) while ERCOT and PUCT conduct an audit of the facilities, including water usage. However, some activists are suspicious of the pause, believing it to be election-year theater.
Phyllis Gant of the Lubbock NAACP spoke at the Monday launch event about her efforts to slow a proposed data center development in the Texas Panhandle and encouraged others to get involved at the local level in their own communities.
“We need water, whether you’re red or blue, you gotta have water to live,” she said.
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