What You Can Do Locally
The deal is done but the story is not. Other Texas towns have successfully blocked or delayed data center projects when residents organized. Abilene can still push back. Here is how.
Follow the campaign finance reports for every city council seat, county commissioner seat, and state representative. It is all public record. Any official who took money from data center developers, real estate trusts, or related corporate interests does not represent residents on these decisions. Vote accordingly and tell every neighbor exactly why.
Short term rentals operating outside zoning rules are eating Abilene's housing supply at exactly the moment we cannot afford it. Report every Airbnb and VRBO operating in a residential zone for too many occupants, parking violations, noise, trash, and code violations. Do it every time. These platforms have complaint thresholds and enough reports trigger real investigations.
Stargate had one public comment period before the abatement was approved and one person spoke against it. Do not let that happen again. Every utility rate filing, every PUC proceeding, every zoning change, every rezoning hearing has a public comment window. Track them. Show up. Bring your neighbors. The room being empty is what got us here.
Oracle, Crusoe, Lancium, and the Development Corporation of Abilene all have Google business profiles, Glassdoor pages, Indeed listings, and LinkedIn presences. Tell your story on all of them. Loudly, repeatedly, and legally. These reviews reach investors, future employees, and journalists.
Save the corporate office numbers for Oracle, Crusoe, and Lancium in your phone. Call during business hours as a concerned Abilene resident with questions about water use, air quality, and the impact on your neighborhood. Perfectly legal. Do it often.
Texas has strong public records laws. Submit Open Records Requests to the City of Abilene, Taylor County, and the Development Corporation of Abilene for every communication between officials and Crusoe, Oracle, Lancium, OpenAI, and SoftBank. Request the underlying methodology for the $4 billion economic impact estimate that the DCOA has refused to share with journalists. Make it public when you get it.
Loudoun County activists raised over $30,000 to install their own PurpleAir air quality monitors because the state would not require data centers to report emissions. Push for independent air monitors near the Stargate gas plant and the Shackelford generators. Make the data public.
Not just their data center posts. Every post. Birthday wishes. Lunch photos. Ribbon cuttings for other projects. Calmly and factually remind people in the comments which officials voted to approve the abatement and what those decisions have done to housing in this city.
The Piedmont Environmental Council in Virginia, the Loudoun Climate Project, the Southern Environmental Law Center in Memphis, the Texas Observer, MediaJustice, Good Jobs First, and Environment Texas are all tracking this fight nationally. Abilene is not alone. Share strategy with the people who came before us.