Op-Ed: Jahan Wilcox: Trump’s bold energy and AI push could be undermined by a Texas bill
Last Wednesday, President Donald Trump proposed an emergency permitting overhaul that would slash federal approval times for energy and mining projects to just 28 days. It’s the kind of bold, pro-growth reform that defines his America First agenda: cutting red tape, fueling energy independence, and positioning the U.S. as a global leader in emerging technologies like artificial intelligence.
As the former spokesman for the Environmental Protection Agency during President Trump’s first term, I saw firsthand how conservative leadership can streamline regulation while protecting the environment. We proved energy dominance and environmental stewardship are not opposing goals, they're complimentary when guided by common sense and innovation.
Unfortunately, some in Texas are charting a different course. Texas Senate Bill 6 (SB6), currently advancing in Austin, runs counter to everything President Trump is championing. Instead of unleashing growth, it burdens it especially in one of the most strategically important sectors of our economy: AI data infrastructure.
SB6 tacks on an additional six-month review process for data centers on top of an already lengthy 6–18-month timeline. The result? Developers could be waiting up to two years just to break ground. That’s not just inefficient — it’s economically disastrous.
Companies like OpenAI, Oracle, and others backing Trump’s $500 billion “Stargate” AI initiative aren’t going to wait around. Time is money. And in a global arms race for AI supremacy, it’s also national security.
Worse still, SB6 ignores the strengths of Texas’ energy-only market and layers on more big government policies mandating expensive backup power and new grid fees. Instead of supporting the Texas Miracle, SB6 punishes innovation and chases away private investment.
Meanwhile, China is aggressively building out its AI infrastructure. If red states like Texas start acting like blue states — bogging down growth in bureaucracy — we don’t just stall our economy, we hand our competitive edge to Beijing. That’s not America First. That’s America falling behind.
The irony is hard to ignore: a Republican-led legislature embracing the same kind of regulatory bloat we fight against in Washington. SB6 may be well-meaning, but its consequences are clear: delays, higher costs, lost jobs, destroying rural growth and diminished global leadership.
Texas has always been a beacon of business freedom, energy innovation, and conservative values. It should be leading the charge into an AI-powered future, not throttling progress with red tape.
Jahan Wilcox was a spokesman at the Environmental Protection Agency During President Trump’s First Term.
