Anti-Data Center Rebels in Texas Pray to Jesus to Keep Them Out

In Granbury, Texas, city council meetings begin with a prayer.

But at a session back in January, one local invoked the Almighty in a way that would have been unimaginable just a decade ago.

“I want to pray in Jesus’ name that the land annexed will not become a data center,” said Matt Long, a member of the development commission in surrounding Hood County. Despite his plea, and a chorus of complaints from his neighbors, the council voted just four months later to rezone 2,100 acres of land for a potential data center known as Project Patriot.

The rebellion stands out ...