Tim Vandenack covers immigration, multicultural issues and Northern Utah for KSL. He worked several years for the Standard-Examiner in Ogden and has lived and reported in Mexico, Chile and along the U.S.-Mexico border.
SALT LAKE CITY — A week after Box Elder County officials gave the green light to the Stratos Project Area data center project, debate keeps escalating and intensifying.
Kevin O'Leary, the Canadian businessman behind the initiative, took aim at some of the project's foes by name in an interview with Fox News, suggesting that opponents, chiefly concerned about its environmental repercussions, may be working with the Chinese government. Box Elder County officials, meanwhile, say moves to halt the project by forcing a vote on the two resolutions approved last week that allow the plans to proceed wouldn't necessarily stop the initiative.
"So these are proxies for the Chinese government, is my argument," O'Leary, wearing a suit and flip-flops, said Monday, referencing the online attacks against the plans. "And if they're not, 'cause I want them to be able to defend their name — Taylor, Josh and Gabi — come out, come out wherever you are. Let's audit your books. Let's show the people of Utah you actually care about them.
"Critics rebuff the talk of Chinese infiltration as they await word on whether their petitions to seek ballot referendums on the two resolutions pass legal muster. The O'Leary Digital plans call for a data center operation and installation of up to 9 gigawatts of power-producing capacity to serve the operation spread across some 40,000 acres of land.
"Take your lies, your data center and your toes back to the cartoon villain lair you came from, Kevin," said Gabi Finlayson of Elevate Utah and Elevate Strategies, the "Gabi" O'Leary referenced. "The only foreign actor here is the Canadian billionaire pretending he cares about Utah more than the people who live here.
"The Alliance for a Better Utah posted a message on its Facebook page in response to O'Leary's comments, saying the nonprofit organization "holds politicians accountable and advocates for progressive policies in Utah. " It was founded by Joshua Kanter, according to the National Center for Family Philanthropy, and used to be led by Taylor Knuth, the others name-checked by O'Leary.
Representatives from several groups lobbying against the data center plans are also planning a demonstration at the Utah Capitol in Salt Lake City on Thursday, when they plan to unveil an open letter of opposition to the project to Gov. Spencer Cox. The rally starts at 10:30 a.m."This is probably the most uniting issue I've ever seen in Utah in my lifetim
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