An evaporation chamber used in thermal management research is photographed inside Hadi Ghasemi’s laboratory at the University of Houston in Houston on Wednesday, July 1, 2026. Ghasemi’s research explores new ways to improve cooling efficiency for data centers.
Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle
Data center frameworks
Regarding “James Talarico rolls out plan to rein in data centers. It’s a lot like Greg Abbott’s.,” (July 22): The growing agreement between Gov. Greg Abbott and U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico reflects something important: Texans across the political spectrum want data center growth managed responsibly.
After all, data centers are not ordinary buildings. Decisions made during planning and construction will shape local water use, grid impacts, noise, safety and infrastructure costs for decades.
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That is why my organization, the National Electrical Manufacturers Association, joined with the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to develop the AI Data Center Energy Performance Framework. It gives developers, utilities, engineers and policymakers a shared technical reference for planning, designing, building and operating these facilities.
The framework is not a one-size-fits-all mandate. A project near Dallas may face very different grid, land and water conditions than one in the Hill Country or along the Gulf Coast.
Instead, it helps decision makers ask the right questions early: Can a facility reduce or shift demand when the grid is stressed? Are cooling systems minimizing water use? Are noise, local infrastructure and long-term operating impacts being addressed before construction begins?
It can also help identify costly grid upgrades before they become emergencies or are shifted onto families and small businesses.
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Texas should consider incorporating this kind of technical framework into permitting, siting and development agreements. Developers should be able to show how projects will manage energy use, water, safety, reliability, grid impacts and community concerns, not merely promise that those issues will work themselves out.
The debate should not be reduced to choosing between unrestricted development and stopping data centers altogether. Abbott and Talarico are pointing toward a middle ground. A shared technical playbook can help turn that convergence into workable policy, allowing Texas to capture the economic opportunity of data centers while protecting the communities and electric grid that make that opportunity possible.
Debra Phillips, president and CEO of the National Electrical Manufacturers Association.
Nomination
Regarding “Cornyn wins showdown with Trump administration over IRS settlement,” (Aug 3): It’s time to be honest about what transpired surrounding the appointment of a permanent attorney general. North Carolina Sen. Tom Tillis and Texas Sen. John Cornyn, both of whom will be leaving the Senate thanks in part to President Donald Trump, got almost nothing for their demands, despite their vocal protests repeated constantly by the media.
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Cornyn wanted the elimination of immunity for Trump and his family on future tax audits. And he didn’t get it. In addition, Trump can still legally weaponize funds and end up giving money to Jan. 6 rioters.
In the end, the senators caved. Plain and simple! Stop saying they stood up to Blanche and Trump.
They merely gave cover to all the vulnerable Republicans in Congress who, for obvious political reasons, were reluctant to vote against the nomination. Tillis and Cornyn, it should be remembered, are first and foremost Republicans in Trump’s Republican Party.
As has been the case since Trump was reelected in 2024, Republican leaders doth protest too much. At first, they feign serious concerns and then ultimately acquiesce when the critical vote comes. Enough said. Please stop insisting that Tillis and Cornyn are heroes; they are cowards — RINOs in sheep clothing. They represent what is wrong with politics in the age of MAGA.
Richard Cherwitz, emeritus professor in the Moody College of Communication at the University of Texas
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History repeats
Regarding “At Houston’s protests for Lorenzo Salgado, the culture is the point,” (July 20): The fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in East Houston is not a tactical accident; it is a terrifying echo of history repeating itself.
A century ago during the Jim Crow era, the Texas Rangers wielded unchecked authority under the guise of border security. Through brutal campaigns like La Matanza, ethnic Mexicans were profiled, hunted and killed with state impunity. Today, we witness a modern iteration: aggressive enforcement by minimally trained ICE agents using identical state-sanctioned tactics — unmarked vehicles, hidden identities and militarized stops — operating without body cameras or local accountability.
This dangerous regression exposes the true reality behind “Make America Great Again” rhetoric. Stripping civil rights, dismantling DEI oversight and eroding post-Civil Rights constitutional checks is an explicit policy push back to an era where color dictated citizenship, suspicion replaced probable cause and state violence carried zero consequence.
When federal agents act as judge, jury and executioner, democratic checks collapse. Salgado — a 35-year Houston resident and homebuilder — was not even the target of the operation.
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To prevent Texas from slipping back into the dark days of 100 years ago, we must confront this institutional abuse head-on. Houstonians must demand an independent investigation, an immediate end to qualified immunity for federal agents and systemic reform. History has repeated itself; our action will decide if early 20th-century authoritarianism becomes our future.
David Contreras, past national League of United Latin American Citizens historian