Photo by Justin Sullivan / Getty Images.
Willie Nelson has owned a home and farmland in Abbott, Texas since he was a kid, and he says he can still see the stars there at night. Now he’s asking his neighbors to stand up to the AI data centers moving in on rural land.
He called data centers “loud, water thieving, light polluting” in an open letter posted July 28 urging his hometown of Abbott, Texas to push back against the construction spreading across the state.
“The strength of rural America has never come from big industrial footprints,” the 93-year-old wrote. “It comes from generations of people, open spaces, local businesses, and a connection to the land.”
He warned that the projects “steal farmland (where our essential shared-food is grown) and small family farmers’ livelihoods,” and closed by telling readers not to “allow our own demise or give up control over necessary resources in the U.S. and especially in Abbott.”
Nelson has fought this fight before. He co-founded Farm Aid in 1985 with John Mellencamp and Neil Young, raising tens of millions for family farmers squeezed by corporate agriculture. He frames data centers as the newest version of the same threat.
Texas has become one of the biggest hyperscale data center hotspots in the country, drawn by cheap land, tax breaks, and the ERCOT grid. The facilities draw millions of gallons of water a day for cooling and run bright lighting around the clock. Reports count roughly 8 projects within 20 miles of Abbott and about 32 within 50.
An aerial view of Oracle’s Stargate AI data center under construction in Abilene, Texas in August 2026 — the first Stargate site to go live, expected to span some 4 million square feet when complete. Photo by Brandon Bell / Getty Images
The backlash has crossed party lines. Country singer Tanya Tucker testified at the Capitol against transmission lines cutting through her ranch, and Gov. Greg Abbott has called for prohibiting AI data centers in rural neighborhoods as counties across the state issue moratoriums.
Written by January Nelson for the Thought Catalog ~ September 1, 2026