Tribune editorial: The voice of the people has pushed #Utah leaders to stop and think about massive #DataCenter. Keep it up.
This is an issue that has united people across the political spectrum.
By The Salt Lake Tribune Editorial Board
| May 22, 2026
"The fear that a ginormous, water-guzzling, air-befouling, weather-modifying data center planned for Utah’s northwest corner was a done deal seems to be easing just a bit. It’s not hard to see why.
A handful of key state officials are now promising that, before the project actually gets built — if it ever does — the appropriate environmental reviews, with opportunities for public comment, will happen.
"That doesn’t mean that the people who have stood up to what appeared to be a pre-greased mega-project can rest easy. Vigilance and activism are what have worked so far, and will be necessary going forward. As long and exhausting as that process might be.
"It will take a lot of continual public outcry to counterbalance the monied interests pouring campaign contributions into the coffers of Utah Senate President #StuartAdams and other powerful worthies who have been pushing the plan.
"Few Utahns had any inkling that a little-known state agency called the Military Installation Development Authority (#MIDA), which Adams chairs, had put its weight behind the #StratosProject, a proposed data center that would, at full build-out, generate and consume twice as much electricity as the whole state of Utah.
"The Box Elder County Commission had to sign off on the project before the MIDA board could take over all land-use, water, energy, environmental and tax-abatement authority over the 40,000-acre project — immune from any democratic oversight.
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"Despite loud public objections, online and in person, commissioners did exactly that. Given that the land is privately owned, not part of any city and not zoned for any particular use, commissioners argued they really didn’t have the power to stop it.
"But others do."
Read more:
https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/editorial/2026/05/22/tribune-editorial-public-outcry/
#UtahPol #KevinOLeary #WaterConsumption #HeatPollution #ResistDatacenters #WaterIsLife #ThermalPollution #HeatGeneration
#Drought #GreatSaltLake
#Environment #EnvironmentalCatastrophe #Datacenters #DatacentersSuck
#SharkTank #AISucks
“Vigilance and activism are what have worked so far, and will be necessary going forward,” writes The Salt Lake Tribune editorial board. “As long and exhausting as that process might be.”
Name and shame.
All rich, powerful, white men in development and/or real estate with conflicts if interest galore.
#utpol #Utah #MIDA #AI #BoxElderCounty
https://www.sltrib.com/news/2026/05/09/mida-board-members-breaking-down/
#KevinOLeary’s Massive #DataCenter Project in #Utah Gets the Greenlight, Locals Are Furious
The project would be more than twice the size of Manhattan and could consume more electricity than the entire state currently uses.
By Bruce Gil
Published May 6, 2026
"The Box Elder County Commission voted on Monday to move forward with a proposed 40,000-acre #AI and #CloudComputing campus in a rural part of northern Utah near the #GreatSaltLake. The site would span more than twice the size of Manhattan.
"The project, backed by O’Leary Digital, the infrastructure arm of O’Leary Ventures, is expected to eventually produce and consume up to 9 gigawatts of power. That’s roughly double the amount of electricity the entire state of Utah currently consumes, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.
"The campus is expected to be built in phases and overseen by Utah’s Military Installation Development Authority (#MIDA). O’Leary proposed a similar project in Canada in 2024 and has referred to both developments as '#WonderValley.' "
[...]
"For his part, O’Leary has claimed, without evidence, that much of the opposition to the project was 'paid' and that the meeting was filled with 'professional protestors.'
" 'We think that over 90% of the protestors are actually not people that live in Utah or Box Elder County. They’re being bussed in,' O’Leary said in a video posted on X.
He also claimed backlash on social media surrounding the project was AI-generated.
"O’Leary Ventures did not immediately respond to a human-issued request for comment from Gizmodo."
Archived version:
https://archive.ph/Q9tF4
#OLearyDigital #OLearyVentures #SharkTank #Datacenters #AIDatacenters #LocalOpposition #NoisePollution #AISucks #MilitaryIndustrialComplex
Il #MIM sarà presente all’edizione 2026 della Mostra Internazionale dell’Artigianato #MIDA, che si svolgerà da oggi, 25 aprile, al 3 maggio, presso la Fortezza da Basso di Firenze, e che celebra quest’anno i novant’anni dalla fondazione. Su impulso del Ministro Giuseppe Valditara, il Ministero partecipa per la prima volta con uno spazio dedicato. L’iniziativa rientra nel progetto “Made in MIM”, che ha l’obiettivo di promuovere, valorizzare e diffondere a livello nazionale e internazionale i prodotti di eccellenza delle scuole italiane. Qui tutti i dettagli ➡️ https://www.mim.gov.it/web/guest/-/il-mim-alla-mostra-internazionale-dell-artigianato-mida
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