SALT LAKE CITY — Hundreds gathered on the steps of the Utah State Capitol on Thursday to protest celebrity investor Kevin O'Leary's massive data center project proposed in Box Elder County.
Chanting "no data center," they demanded state political leaders — including the Military Installation Development Authority — walk back the project in the face of public opposition. Governor Spencer Cox and other state leaders have expressed support for the project, which would be built on 40,000 acres of land purchased near the Great Salt Lake.
"A.I. is basically destroying everything. We don’t need it. We need water," said Alethea Nay, who demonstrated against the project.
At its peak, the Utah Highway Patrol said the crowd outside the Capitol reached about 400. Many expressed concerns about the environmental impacts of the proposed nine gigawatt facility, from the amount of noise and heat it would put out, to how much water it would take and whether it would harm the already imperiled Great Salt Lake.
"We care about Great Salt Lake. We care about our air, water, land," said Joan Gregory.
Others said they were angry with Box Elder County Commissioners, who retreated to a separate room away from hundreds of people who turned out to a special commission meeting and declined to take public comment before voting to approve the project.
A group is collecting signatures for a citizen referendum to undo the vote to approve what's known as the "Stratos Project." Rhonda Anderson Lauritzen, who owns land near the proposed data center site, was at Thursday's rally to encourage people to support the referendum effort. She believed some political leaders were changing their minds.
"People are making a difference. The politicians are listening and there’s actually hope that there’s enough political will because the people are not having it," she told FOX 13 News.
During a recent interview on FOX Business Channel, O'Leary pushed back on critics of the data center project suggesting some groups were fronts for the communist Chinese government.
"Why, every time we announce national defense in terms of giving us compute power, do we get pounded by all of these IP addresses? So these are proxies for the Chinese government, is my argument," he said.
When the comments were repeated for the crowd outside the Capitol on Thursday, there were boos and jeers. The crowd marched into the Capitol to deliver a petition to Gov. Cox that organizers said contained more than 7,600 signatures opposing the data center project.
Things got a little heated when the Utah Highway Patrol, which runs security for the Capitol, would not allow the envelope to be taped to the doors of the Governor's office or slid into the office. As the crowd chanted "people over profits" a representative of Gov. Cox came out and accepted it to some applause and thanks.
The data center project is currently on hold after its backers abruptly withdrew their water rights application with the state. It is expected it will be re-filed in the near future.
