More
than 600 Utahns flooded the steps of the state Capitol on Saturday to
demand a halt to the Stratos Project, a massive data center development
in Box Elder County that critics say was rubber-stamped by local
officials without proper environmental review and with no regard for the
state's already strained water supply.
The
project, championed by Canadian entrepreneur and "Shark Tank"
personality Kevin O'Leary, would eventually span thousands of acres and
draw enormous amounts of power and water from a region that can barely
afford to spare either.
- The Great Salt Lake is already shrinking at an
alarming rate, and opponents argue that fast-tracking a development of
this scale without comprehensive environmental studies is reckless
governance at its worst. . .
The
Box Elder County Commission approved the project on May 4th, a decision
that has since ignited a grassroots uprising that crosses party lines.
Attendees at Saturday's rally came from across the state, from the Idaho
border all the way down to Payson, and every single person KSL
interviewed said they drove themselves there and were not paid to
attend.
O'Leary has repeatedly
tried to dismiss the opposition as outside agitators and paid protesters
with ties to foreign interests, but that narrative collapsed on contact
with reality at Saturday's rally. Sign after sign was held by lifelong
Utahns, including one voter who said he actually supported Gov. Spencer
Cox in the last election but has grown deeply frustrated with how the
administration has handled the project. .
.
The
opposition has formalized into organized referendum efforts, voter
registration drives, and a growing coalition under the Box Elder
Accountability Referendum group, known as BEAR. Organizers say there are
more than 20 proposed data centers currently eyeing Utah, and they
intend to fight every one
No comments:
Post a Comment