The Same Buildings, Two Opposite Sets of Laws

Greg Abbott spent years courting the AI industry. Last week the same governor halted roughly 1,800 data center projects seeking to connect to the Texas grid, and said the developers "basically dug their own grave" and "got the backlash they deserve." ^[1] President Trump called the halt a "mistake," warning that "any community that turns down AI is making a big mistake because your taxes are going to go way down." ^[1] Same party, same buildings, opposite directions. Washington's answer to the backlash has been to remove the process that produced it. The AI Action Plan grants data centers categorical exclusions from the National Environmental Policy Act, the law that requires federal agencies to study a project's effects before approving it. ^[2] In May the EPA proposed letting developers clear land and pour concrete before air permits are issued. ^[3] In July it exempted islanded power plants from the Acid Rain Program. ^[4] In August it moved to end public notice and comment for minor pollution sources — facilities that can emit up to 250 tons of hazardous pollutants a year — while insisting the change "does not alter emission standards or weaken environmental protections." ^[5] Trump has also invoked the Defense Production Act to accelerate energy production, citing "regulatory delays" as a barrier to national defense. ^[6] The states are writing the opposite law about the same buildings. Pennsylvania's Governor Josh Shapiro issued standards that require developers to fund their own power, secure local municipal approval before state permits, and bar them from signing nondisclosure agreements with public officials. ^[7] His position is the exact inverse of the federal fast-track. "If the local community doesn't approve a project, the state won't approve it either," he said. ^[7] South Dakota's Republican Senate passed a "Data Center Bill of Rights" 34-0, prohibiting the state from overruling local ordinances and requiring companies to pay their own electricity and water costs. ^[8] Ohio's state EPA, in a Republican-led state, reversed its own plan to streamline data center wastewater permits after 7,000 public comments. ^[9] The contrast is sharpest on cost. Trump's Ratepayer Protection Pledge asks tech companies to voluntarily fund new power plants. Florida and South Dakota make the same principle law — "cost causer, cost payer" — enforceable rather than optional. ^[10][8] The rebellion cuts across party lines. Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican, blocked a House bill that would have limited environmental litigation around data centers, saying "no industry deserves special treatment under the law." ^[10][11] In Pennsylvania, Republican state treasurer Stacy Garrity is running to the left of the Democratic governor, demanding a total pause. ^[12] Public opposition to data centers near homes rose from 28% to 41% in months, a shift a polling firm called rare in its speed. ^[13] It is not winning everywhere. Kentucky's legislature stripped its data center bill after opposition from the state's largest utility. ^[14] Hill County, Texas reversed its moratorium after a $100 million lawsuit. ^[15] The industry's litigation is a second front. Legal experts warn that sidelining NEPA could "increase litigation and paradoxically slow development." ^[2] Washington has not yet tried to override state or local restrictions directly, so the constitutional question of who gets the final word has not been forced. Two levels of government are now writing opposite law about the same buildings — and the collision is accelerating toward a question neither side has yet had to answer.