October 13, 2026 - Musk Is the Midterm's Biggest Spender

Data centers have become the front line in the coarsening of our politics. A headline leading the CNN website says it all: ‘Unalive them’: Inside America’s Data Center Rage. CNN reviewed more than 100 police reports filed since last year and found dozens of threats against data centers. They ranged from bomb warnings scrawled on bathroom walls to online calls to “use bullets on city council members” and suggestions that protesters “unalive” officials who back development.

The anger isn’t confined to the fringe. Data centers are the local issue of this year’s midterms. In Pennsylvania, Governor Josh Shapiro has reversed his position. In Ohio, Sherrod Brown hopes to ride his opposition back to the U.S. Senate. In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott, who once called his state “the epicenter of AI development,” now wants to restrict data centers in rural communities and strip away their tax breaks.

In September, a CNN poll conducted by SSRS found that nearly nine in 10 Americans are more concerned than excited about these facilities. The complaints are familiar: electric bills, water, noise, sheer size, and unease about artificial intelligence itself. On the other side are jobs, tax revenue, and the argument that if America doesn’t build them, someone else will.

All of it gets a fair hearing in episode 5 of my YouTube show, “Can We Agree?”, where my guests Brian O’Neill and Abre’ Conner debate the future of data centers. O’Neill is one of the largest developers in Pennsylvania and has proposed billions of dollars in data centers in suburban Montgomery County. When Governor Shapiro recently said he was a “hell no” on a particular project, he was talking about O’Neill. Conner is director of the NAACP’s Center for Environmental and Climate Justice and is leading its federal lawsuit against Elon Musk’s xAI over the gas turbines powering a massive data center near Memphis. Two smart people having a civil debate on a matter of public consequence.

This is exactly why I launched “Can We Agree?” Put aside what you think you know and watch the episode on my YouTube channel.

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