longer.blue

“ The tech industry is increasingly alarmed that the swift, bipartisan backlash against data centers isn’t a fleeting election-year issue but a lasting political crisis stretching into 2028, with politicians across the spectrum, including Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Pennsylvania’s Josh Shapiro, and Michigan Senate nominee Mike Rogers, embracing curbs like moratoriums and local approval requirements even after previously courting the projects as economic wins. States have moved on the financial front too, with eight enacting legislation this year rolling back data center tax subsidies and 17 more considering it, while public frustration centers on fears of higher power bills, strained water supplies, and landscape damage. Some industry insiders describe this as an “oh shit” moment, while others dismiss it as a temporary storm, though national party organizations, including the NRSC in a memo about Ohio Sen. Jon Husted, are now treating it as a real electoral threat. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has tried to get ahead of the backlash with a $1 billion community investment fund, though critics question whether one company’s PR effort can fix what’s increasingly seen as an industry-wide reputational problem, and even an OpenAI executive admitted “we have real work to do” to win over communities living near the facilities.” Via Aaron Parnas newsletter today