‘We are not helpless’: Utah Gov. Spencer Cox hopeful for Utah, worried for nation

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LAYTON — Utah Gov. Spencer Cox stated that he is aware of there are lots of challenges dealing with the Beehive State, and extra broadly the nation, throughout his keynote tackle Tuesday on the One Utah Summit.

This message, with some added causes for optimism, is one which Cox has given to college students throughout the state lately throughout his ongoing Connecting Utah Tour.

“My level to the younger folks is that, sure, there are issues to fret about of their lives. However we aren’t helpless. Now we have the flexibility to unravel these issues,” Cox stated.

He even took it one step additional, proclaiming, “There’s by no means been a greater time to be alive than proper now, and … there’s by no means been a greater place to dwell than proper right here in Utah.”

Nonetheless, he acknowledged that there’s important room for enchancment, beginning with curbing social media and cellphone use, or “the dangerous issues proper in entrance of us on a regular basis.”

Cox talked about earlier generations that had been raised with out simple, seemingly 24/7 publicity and entry to social media and the way wholesome little one improvement depends on unsupervised play — one thing he stated he is seeing much less and fewer of.

In March, Cox signed the nation’s first main social media rules into legislation when he put ink to paper on SB152 and HB311.

The payments have been touted by lawmakers as essential to counter the alleged harms social media platforms perpetuate on youngsters, whereas concurrently drawing robust pushback from business teams. They’ve additionally raised issues about freedom of speech and privateness.

Whereas Cox stated he desires folks to know that “we aren’t helpless” in fixing the challenges dealing with the state and nation, he was markedly much less optimistic in regards to the federal authorities and its function in fixing issues.

“We’re slightly bit helpless relating to getting assist from our nation to unravel these issues,” Cox stated.

To bolster his level, Cox talked in regards to the federal authorities lately approving the TransWest Specific Transmission Venture — a $3 billion transmission line that may carry electrical energy from the nation’s largest onshore wind farm in Wyoming and transfer extra low-carbon power into California — crossing by means of Utah.

“That is excellent news,” Cox stated. “The dangerous information is that we began that software course of in 2008. I can guarantee you that in 2009 after I was sitting in a small basement room in Sanpete County as a county commissioner, I didn’t count on to be governor of the good state of Utah when that obtained authorised. That is how damaged issues are at our nationwide stage.”

Regardless of this, Cox once more emphasised that Utahns will not be helpless to unravel in-state issues themselves — specifically, these associated to the continuing drought, water and housing.

“A earlier governor stated that in Utah, we’re both in drought or making ready for the subsequent drought. And they also constructed reservoirs, very correctly, and so they constructed water distribution techniques as a result of they weren’t helpless. They understood that they may work collectively to unravel these issues,” Cox stated.

He pointed to Utahns collectively saving 20 billion gallons of water as a current instance of problem-solving that is occurring within the state.

So far as housing, Cox stated the state just isn’t the place it desires to be however that it is a “easy provide and demand difficulty” that he believes is within the state’s management to unravel.

“We will do it in good methods. We will do it in the fitting locations. … A number of payments have handed this legislative session that may assist us to do this,” Cox stated. “We are going to work collectively, and we are going to determine this out and we are going to get this completed.”

He referenced the newest version of the U.S. Information and World Report launched Tuesday, which ranks Utah as one of the best state within the nation.

“That is the definitive rating of all 50 U.S. states, and so they selected Utah,” Cox stated. “We do not all the time get it proper. Typically there are controversial issues — we aren’t capable of finding compromise, and we find yourself doing issues like the remainder of the nation does — however as a rule, we’re on the opposite facet.”

“There is a chance for us to come back collectively, and I consider that Utah can present the remainder of the world that there’s a higher approach.”

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