This story was originally published by Inside Climate News and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.
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story → publish → collaboration
Democrats’ historic sweep of Texas on Tuesday raises new possibilities of environmental reform after more than 30 years of Republican rule in the home of the nation’s oil and gas industry.
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sweep → raise → industry
That includes opportunities to cement safeguards for data center development, lower energy costs and, over time, appoint new commissioners to the state’s regulatory agencies and boost environmentally protective standards.
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That → include → standards
“We have a generational shift in leadership here,” said Adrian Shelley, state director of Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group.
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Shelley → have → Citizen
“I think there’s going to be a real appetite for reform.”
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I → think → reform
Both the US Senate and governor races were called before midnight Central Time, quickly crushing the longheld skepticism of the potential of a Democrat-led Texas.
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races → call → Texas
Democrats also took the House in the state Legislature.
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Democrats → take → Legislature
The blue wave in Texas resulted, in part, from an upswell of public outrage over the state’s booming buildout of data centers for artificial intelligence that are gobbling massive amounts of electricity and failing to disclose their water use, experts said Wednesday.
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experts → result → use
When the Democratic administration takes office in January, data centers will sit at the center of its political crosshairs.
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centers → take → crosshairs
“The new state leadership has a clear mandate to rein in the data center industry,” Shelley said.
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Shelley → have → industry
“I think the days of Texas being unequivocally open for business are over.”
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Texas → think → business
Gina Hinojosa, a Democratic state representative who was largely unknown earlier this year, unseated three-term Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who was backed by some of the richest and most powerful forces across the country.
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who → unseat → country
Hinojosa will be the first Hispanic politician to lead the state, where Latinos make up the largest population, and will preside over the second-largest state economy in the country, after California.
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Latinos → lead → California
The victory of James Talarico against Attorney General Ken Paxton ends decades of Republican rule in the US Senate, with the last Democratic senator elected in 1988.
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senator → end → 1988
It was also the most expensive Senate race in history, with the richest man on earth, Elon Musk, contributing more than $160 million to secure Paxton’s victory.
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man → contribute → victory
Democrat Jon Rosenthal defeated a former Tarrant County GOP chair with a storied record of extremism, Bo French, for one of three seats at the state’s oil and gas regulator, the Railroad Commission.
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Rosenthal → defeat → regulator
“Pretty much everyone who won the statewide level is a champ on the environment,” said Luke Metzger, executive director of Environment Texas.
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Metzger → win → Texas
“That’s really exciting.”
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That → ’ → ?
Hinojosa’s election has panicked the data center industry over its future in one of the largest markets in the United States.
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election → panic → States
While Abbott switched from issuing an enthusiastic invitation for data centers to invest and develop in Texas to a list of stringent directives, Hinojosa has campaigned on calling an immediate moratorium on new data centers.
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Hinojosa → switch → centers
Voters clearly want the data center industry to be held accountable, said the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club’s legislative director, Cyrus Reed.
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Chapter → want → director
“For a long time, they’ve had not only a seat at the table, they’ve actually been creating the table with some of the laws that have been passed,” Reed said.
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Reed → have → laws
Hinojosa’s election signals a significant shift in Texas’ data center policies, global analysis firm Wood Mackenzie said Wednesday.
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Mackenzie → signal → policies
Even so, the state will remain a leading market for data center investments, given its renewable resources, natural gas infrastructure and regulatory autonomy from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Wood Mackenzie added.
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Mackenzie → remain → Commission
Jess Heck, the director of Texas government affairs for the Data Center Coalition, the industry’s largest trade group, said its members will continue to engage with residents and local leaders to understand community priorities and ensure the growth of digital infrastructure delivers clear benefits for Texans.
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growth → say → Texans
“Enhancing affordability, creating jobs, and keeping the state’s economy strong are top priorities for Texans,” Heck said in a statement to Inside Climate News.
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Heck → enhance → News
“Data centers can continue to play a crucial role in advancing those priorities by bringing investment to local communities and generating critical tax revenue to support local governments and school districts across the state.
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centers → continue → state
The Dallas-Fort Worth region has the largest concentration of data centers in the state.
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region → have → state
On Election Day, Lacey Hamel, 39, and Jazmin Villegas, 44, stood outside the Red Oak Municipal Center waving at voters driving in and out of the building’s lot.
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Hamel → stand → lot
The two wore bright yellow shirts that said, “No More Data Centers.”
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that → wear → Centers
They’re members of Save Our Red Oak, a group tracking and trying to slow down the expansion of data centers across seven campuses in the city.
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They → ’re → city
As in other rural Texas counties with swaths of land, data centers emerged as a critical issue for the election in Red Oak.
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centers → emerge → Oak
Members of the Red Oak group had asked Abbott to call a special legislative session over the industry’s rapid growth.
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Members → ask → growth
“That ship has sailed,” Hamel said.
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Hamel → sail → ?
Among their data center protest group, set in a staunchly Republican county where nearly two-thirds of residents voted for President Donald Trump in 2024, several people crossed party lines over frustrations on data centers, Hamel said.
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Hamel → set → centers
It informed how she voted, too.
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she → inform → ?
“This is one of those issues where it’s affecting our air, it’s affecting our land, it’s affecting our water, it’s affecting our kids,” Hamel said.
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Hamel → affect → kids
A survey published a week before Election Day by the University of Houston’s Hobby School of Public Affairs found that nearly 80 percent of Texas voters would support a policy limiting the number of data centers that can be built in the state.
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that → publish → state
Those who intended to vote for Hinojosa were significantly more likely than Abbott voters to be extremely or very concerned about data centers’ impact on electricity prices, water supply, power outages, noise and air pollution, the survey found.
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survey → intend → prices
Hinojosa can chart a new course and safeguard natural resources, Colin Leyden, Texas state director of the Environmental Defense Fund, said in a statement.
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Leyden → chart → statement
…and 14 more, not listed.
The Aporia
