Utah
What’s Up With Mr. Wonderful’s Utah Data Center?
Earlier this month, Republican county commissioners fast-tracked approval for a 40,000-acre data center in northwest Utah, blocking public comment from hundreds of furious locals. The Stratos project, as the venture is known, is backed by Shark Tank entrepreneur Kevin O’Leary through his investment company O’Leary Digital. It’s designed to reach a 9-gigawatt power capacity, making it one of the largest “hyperscale” data centers in the world; at its projected $100 billion buildout, the center would generate and consume twice as much power as the entire state of Utah currently uses.
Despite a massive public outcry, Box Elder County commissioners unanimously approved the project after facing a contentious crowd in a May 4 meeting at the county fairgrounds. Commissioner Boyd Bingham threatened to have protestors removed by law enforcement, telling them, “For hell’s sake, grow up.” He and his fellow commissioners then left the room and finished the meeting in a closed session, livestreaming their final unanimous vote of 3-0. O’Leary, who did not attend the meeting, claimed on social media that the protestors were “professional… paid, and bused in.” Environmental advocate and former U.S. Senate candidate Caroline Gleich fired back, saying, “Utahns don’t want an out-of-state billionaire controlling our land.”
The controversy around data centers in the U.S. continues to grow; 67 percent of new data center construction is planned for rural areas, according to a recent Pew Research Center report. Last year, Rolling Stone reported on Amazon data centers in Eastern Oregon that siphoned tens of millions of gallons of water from state aquifers, worsening a water pollution problem linked to cancer and miscarriages. A $20.5 million class-action settlement agreement reached between Amazon and a group of Oregon residents in March marked the first time a Big Tech company committed to paying damages for public health threats allegedly exacerbated by its data centers.
Senator Bernie Sanders recently introduced a bill aimed at putting a federal moratorium on data center construction. “We cannot sit back and allow a handful of billionaire Big Tech oligarchs to make decisions that will reshape our economy, our democracy and the future of humanity,” Sanders previously said in a statement to Rolling Stone. “We need serious public debate and democratic oversight over this enormously consequential issue.”
Environmental fears, ancestral lands
Utah is facing a critical water shortage driven by the warmest winter in over a century, with snowpack levels at the lowest ever recorded. Scientists say that heat and emissions generated by a colossal data center like the Stratos project would wreak havoc on an area already severely impacted by climate change. There’s concern that the amount of water needed to cool Stratos facilities could further drain the Great Salt Lake, intensifying exposure to toxic sediments in the rapidly shrinking watershed. Wildlife biologists say the heat generated by the center could also disrupt the movement of migratory birds, deer, and antelope.
Patrick Belmont, professor of watershed sciences at Utah State University, says there are serious technical concerns with building a data center of this scale: “It’s like putting a hairdryer that has the energy consumption of New York City in the middle of a fragile desert ecosystem on the shores of one of the most imperiled lakes in the world.” Belmont says the facility would generate enough heat to raise nighttime temperatures by eight to 12 degrees, irrevocably shifting the dew point, the temperature at which water condenses. “It would desiccate the land, and increase evaporation rates in the whole region,” Belmont says, warning that it could affect the landscape and surrounding communities for generations to come. (Belmont’s views are his own, and do not necessarily reflect those of his employer.
Carbon emissions from the data center would also have a significant environmental impact, with an estimated output of 30 million tons of CO2 per year exceeding emissions from Utah’s entire transportation sector. “It’s 50 percent more than every vehicle in Utah currently,” Belmont says. “I think a lot of people haven’t wrapped their heads around that.”
O’Leary, known as Mr. Wonderful on the ABC reality show Shark Tank, cites the environmental studies degree he received from the University of Waterloo in 1977 when dismissing concerns about the Stratos project, also known as “Wonder Valley.” (He’s also backing a controversial $70 million data center development under the Wonder Valley name in Alberta, Canada.) O’Leary, who is from Canada, tells Rolling Stone that water cooling won’t be an issue at the Utah facility. “There’s plenty of turbine technology now that uses air cooling, very, very efficiently,” he says, “and there are many examples across the country where they’re building out power from a combination of wind, battery, solar, and natural gas.”
But Stratos wasn’t designed to use a combination of energy sources; as a state official remarked at an April 22 meeting of the Box Elder County Commission, the project will be powered 100 percent off the Ruby Pipeline, a natural gas line that crosses northern Utah from Wyoming en route to Oregon. MIDA Executive Director Paul Morris told the meeting that proximity to the pipeline was the main reason O’Leary selected the site. MIDA spokesperson Kristin Kenney Williams said in a statement to Rolling Stone that “exploring any and all energy sources as Mr. O’Leary highlighted is absolutely a goal throughout the lifetime of the project and as technology advances.”
Robert Davies, a physics professor at Utah State University, estimates that, due to the inefficiency of natural gas, the facility would actually consume closer to 16 gigawatts at full capacity, an equivalent to “the energy footprint of 40,000 Walmart supercenters.” He noted that his results derive from a preliminary analysis, which “clearly indicate a full-scale analysis is warranted.”
Darren Parry is a former chairman of the Shoshone Nation, a Native American tribe that has inhabited the Great Plains for over 10,000 years. He recently visited the site in northwest Utah’s Hansel Valley, where, he says, “there are burial grounds about a quarter-mile away from the proposed map — close enough to be within the footprint of the ecological area [of the site].” Parry, who teaches Native American history at Utah State University, is calling for a responsible slowdown of the Stratos project. “There are too many unanswered questions,” he says, “especially if we’re going to have a footprint of something that’s bigger than two cities.” (A note on the Shoshone Nation website says Parry’s comments regarding Stratos “do not represent the official voice or position” of the tribe.)
Regulation runaround?
The Box Elder County commissioners’ May 4 vote gave Utah’s Military Installation Development Authority (MIDA) the green light to create the project area for the Stratos data center on unincorporated land. According to a plan released by MIDA officials, the area comprises 40,000 acres of privately-owned land and 1,200 acres of military and state-owned land — over 62 square miles in total.
Activists have raised questions about a taxpayer-funded state agency championing privately owned facilities in Utah. MIDA was created in 2007, ostensibly to strengthen national defense missions and support military initiatives, but in recent years, the group has backed a range of developments, including a luxury ski resort and a hotel. Project areas under MIDA oversight can offer a variety of incentivizing tax breaks and financing deals to developers.
The group approved a series of resolutions to move O’Leary’s project forward last month, agreeing to charge lower taxes in a bid to help “lure the hyperscalers” to Utah. O’Leary appeared via video at the meeting, where, according to The Salt Lake Tribune, he lauded the speed at which MIDA officials had moved to greenlight the venture, telling them, “I heard about this opportunity just five months ago. No one has pulled this off this fast, ever.” Speaking on behalf of MIDA, Williams told Rolling Stone that while the “competitive nature” of the project meant that the group needed to move fast to create the project area, “per state regulation, environmental studies and approvals must be achieved — these will take time, and will be very transparent.”
MIDA officials say the Stratos project is a matter of national security; Utah Gov. Spencer Cox defended building data center facilities at an April news conference, saying the state has an obligation to allow the U.S. to stay competitive as a world power. “We have to do this,” Cox said. “We can’t just say ‘no’ and shut the doors and go home and let China win this, this technology race.”
Environmental advocate Caroline Gleich says MIDA’s backing is simply a way to fast-track building the data center without environmental review. “This is one of the largest developments in northern Utah since the transcontinental railroad,” Gleich says. “People are concerned about its potential impacts and the lack of transparency in the approval process.” She spearheaded an online petition to stop the transfer of water rights from ranching to the Stratos project; following a deluge of nearly 4,000 formal protests filed with Utah’s Division of Water Rights, the application was withdrawn. Developers say that they intend to apply again at a later date. “Utah residents spent almost $60,000 filing these protests,” a frustrated Gleich says. “It costs $15 to lodge a complaint. There’s no refund — and no law that says [the developers] can’t just apply and withdraw as many times as they want.”
Gov. Cox’s calls for Utah residents to “pray for rain” to relieve the state from drought are especially galling to Gleich since the Stratos project is projected to require 16.6 billion gallons of water every year — the equivalent of 25,000 Olympic-size swimming pools. “It’s a hard pill to swallow when people are not watering their lawns, taking baths, or having gardens,” Gleich says.
AI-fueled opposition?
After news of the Stratos data center made headlines, O’Leary went on the offensive, claiming the criticism of his project was the result of foreign interference. “The Chinese are hell-bent on shutting down every attempt to enhance [U.S.] computing power,” he tells Rolling Stone. “I don’t believe that the majority of the people that live in Box Elder — the ranchers and the people on the land — are against this project.” O’Leary accused China of paying protesters and riling up environmentalists on The Tucker Carlson Show, saying that they want to shut down “every single proposal” for U.S. data centers. In a Fox News appearance on May 12, O’Leary accused Gabi Finlayson, a founding partner of the Utah political consulting firm Elevate Strategies, of being a proxy for the Chinese government. Finlayson issued a sardonic reply, saying, “If we were Chinese operatives, we would be the worst operatives in the entire world. Someone alert Beijing that the payment portal to [our] Amex bills is somehow broken.”
Shoshone leader Darren Parry also dismisses O’Leary’s claims that online protestors are being paid, or that out-of-state residents were somehow summoned to oppose the county commission meeting. “People are awake now,” Parry says. “They’re tired of business as usual. They want their values reflected. What makes Utah so beautiful is the environment that we live in; let’s not destroy it.”
Over the weekend I risked life and limb in the name of fun because that is the Utah summer way.
Or at least that’s the Utah summer way according to the very fun and very adventurous friends who continue inviting me to southern Utah for hikes where the red rock landscapes are breathtaking and the terrain is slick sandstone and one wrong move means instant death.
Honestly, I’m surprised they invited me again this year after I was VERY dramatic about completing The Subway last June. I was assured that this year’s hike in Coyote Gulch was much less canyoneering and much more traditional hiking with “just one steep incline at the end.”
Coyote Gulch is in the heart of Escalante’s canyon country, in south-central Utah, which, for my money, is the most beautiful part of our great state. There’s something about driving a hilly highway through a lush desert landscape while cattle graze on either side of the road that feels completely whimsical. Like it’s a location that should only exist in cinema.
For dinner we stopped at Hell’s Backbone Grill, one of Utah’s most renowned culinary destinations. The restaurant has been selected as a James Beard Award semifinalist and finalist, and deemed the best restaurant in southern Utah by a number of publications. For good reason. The food is locally sourced and fresh and the setting, next to their farm, cannot be beat.
If I’m being completely honest I was hoping that after dinner we’d all decide that dinner on the patio had been worth the three hour drive and provided the outdoorsyness for which the group seemed to year, and that we should spend the next day lounging about, perhaps enjoying a spa, taking in the scenery from a temperature-controlled room with cucumber water on tap.
But that is not what happened. Instead we went to bed and woke up at FIVE O’CLOCK. IN THE MORNING. We left our accommodations at FIVE THIRTY IN THE MORNING and began the drive to the Crack-in-the-wall trailhead, only a portion of which was paved and the rest was sand.
The hike itself, or at least the way we did it, was 12ish miles through an initial slot canyon, in the gulch along the tributary, around a number of waterfalls, under two arches and a natural bridge, and up and over petrified dunes.
We started actually hiking at 7 a.m., and though sandier than most terrain I’ve traversed, there wasn’t anything especially difficult about the first couple of miles. Then we reached the titular crack in the wall, and I learned we were meant to drop down into it. Which I had no idea how to do, but successfully imitated the people who went ahead of me.
Then, once we arrived at the gulch, we spent the next eight or so miles trudging in and out of water which was honestly not as terrible as it sounds. Or maybe it was terrible but I just didn’t notice because the scenery was so lovely and the wildlife was so fun to observe. Birds and toads and lizards punctuated our path as we enjoyed the shade of the tall canyon walls.
Our ultimate destination was the Jacob Hamblin Arch, which simply must be seen to be believed and numbers among the most spectacular natural wonders I’ve been fortunate enough to witness. It was well worth the 10-mile hike.
But then we had to get out of the gulch. And it was then that I learned I don’t actually understand what 45% means in practice. I thought I knew what a 45% incline looked like, but I swear when I saw the alleged 45%, it looked more like 150%.
I watched some of the seasoned climbers in our group scamper up the cliff side like they were possessed mountain goats, and then I was handed the rope and instructed to make my way up. Which I did. With remarkable speed. Because I was terrified.
It turns out that the cliche “Don’t look down” exists for a reason. About halfway up the rock I looked behind to see if other hikers were approaching, and when I did I saw just how far I would fall if the rope slipped. Survival seemed impossible. So I skedaddled, with the strength and speed of a Bornean Orangutan up the rope until I hit high, flat ground. Because I guess fear is what really motivates me to accomplish physical feats. During my next race I might pay someone to chase me with a knife so I can finally get that PR I’ve been seeking
The next two miles were a monotonous up and down over solidified sand and just when I said I was ready to lay down and die, we turned a corner and saw the parking lot. I do believe there is no sight more beautiful, not even the Jacob Hamblin Arch, than the parking lot at the end of the hike. When (if) I get to heaven, I bet it will feel the same as seeing your Subaru parked in the shade at a trailhead, knowing an icy Diet Coke waits within.
As soon as we reached our vehicles and I was able to remove my muddy socks and put on sandals I had already forgotten the trials and tribulations of half an hour ago. I was ready to declare it the best day ever. Just like I said about last year’s adventure.
Can’t wait for next year’s hike.
Utah
Rep. Celeste Maloy secures initial $10M in Utah’s bid for $1 billion in Great Salt Lake funding
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Rep. Celeste Maloy secured $10 million to create a new Great Salt Lake Watershed Recovery Program in a spending bill which received congressional committee approval Wednesday.
This is the first step, Maloy says, toward obtaining the $1 billion requested by President Donald Trump in April after he discussed the Great Salt Lake at length with Utah Gov. Spencer Cox in February.
“I don’t think we’re going to get a billion dollars in one year. We’re going to get a billion dollars over a series of years,” Maloy told the Deseret News after the 3rd District Republican primary debate Monday.
As the only Utahn on the House Appropriations Committee — and as vice chair of the Subcommittee on Interior and Environment — Maloy is in a unique position to make Trump’s request a reality.
But $1 billion is a big ask.
In May, Maloy told the Deseret News editorial board she is working to get as much money as she can for the Great Salt Lake by focusing her fellow lawmakers on long-term water sustainability across the West.
“I’m doing what I can right now to help my colleagues from other states understand why this is so important to Utah, and even to the president of the United States that he would put that big of an emphasis in his budget,” she said.
Federal dollars should go to interventions with regional, or national impact, Maloy said after Monday’s debate. This includes mitigating toxic dust blowing off of the lake bed and removing invasive plant species.
What would the new program do?
The Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies spending bill was approved by a 35-27 vote on Wednesday. It directs $10 million to “support the long-term sustainability of the Great Salt Lake watershed.”
It instructs the Department of Interior to submit a report within 180 days outlining plans for the lake, specific accomplishments for a successful program, the federal investment needed to do it, and a timeline.
A separate report would detail the watershed activities as they are started and associated costs. Projects could include vegetation management, meadow restoration, plant removal and drainage improvements.
The bill would create a new position within the Department of Interior to oversee disbursement of funds related to near-term conservation and restoration efforts, primarily increasing water flows into the Great Salt Lake.
Maloy previously said she is working on specific language instructing agencies how they will be expected to use the funds. And the bill will include additional planning and coordination requirements to guide future decisions.
Partnerships between the state and the White House will be important to getting the Great Salt Lake the resources it needs, Gov. Cox told the Deseret News in a statement. The governor praised Maloy, while crediting the president for “this initial investment.”
“President Trump’s commitment to the Great Salt Lake helped elevate this issue nationally, and we’re encouraged to see funding included in this year’s appropriations bill,” Cox said. “Protecting the Great Salt Lake will require sustained effort over many years.”
Will Congress get it passed?
While the appropriations process is just beginning, Utah’s delegation has its work cut out for it to get Great Salt Lake money across the finish line. The House must pass spending bills before they receive Senate amendments.
Every dollar spent on a new program has to be taken from somewhere else, according to Maloy, and there is only a brief time in which the president’s recommendations can be incorporated into the overall budget.
But Trump’s endorsement carries its own momentum.
“We’re having collaboration, the likes of which I have not seen before on water issues in the West, and that gives me hope,” Maloy told the Deseret News editorial board.
“We’ve never had a president of the United States, to my knowledge, say we want to make sure that we’re taking care of the Great Salt Lake — and we have that right now.”
Any solution requires coordination between federal, state and local policymakers, according to Maloy. Most water law is state law, but Utah will need help from Washington, D.C., to craft a long-term plan, she said.
In a statement to the Deseret News, Utah House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, said “Restoring and protecting the Great Salt Lake is a long-term effort that will require partnership between state, federal, and local leaders.”
“We look forward to continuing to work with Congresswoman Maloy, Utah’s congressional delegation and the administration to secure resources and advance meaningful solutions for the lake now and in the years ahead.”
High-profile committees on board
Protecting the Great Salt Lake has long been the sole responsibility of the state, Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, told the Deseret News. But that looks like it is about to change with greater national recognition.
Adams noted the importance of Trump’s decision to highlight the lake in his budget recommendations after speaking with Cox, but pointed to Maloy’s “leadership” for translating it into the appropriations process.
“For a natural resource that has historically received little federal attention and remains one of the only major natural water resources in the country without dedicated federal funding, today’s investment represents significant progress,” Adams said.
Candidates for the 1st Congressional District, Rep. Blake Moore and state lawmaker Karianne Lisonbee, also participated in a debate on Monday, where they were asked how they would help deliver federal funds to the lake.
Moore, a member of Republican caucus leadership who sits on the Ways and Means Committee, said he had a private meeting with Trump’s director of Management and Budget, Russell Vought, about this exact issue.
Moore committed to work closely with Vought to ensure the subcommittee spending bill clearly explains how the money will be used, ranging from eliminating invasive Phragmites and increasing conservation infrastructure.
Lisonbee expressed concern about the price tag, questioning how $1 billion in federal funding would hurt taxpayers and whether it would be the most effective approach, since most remedies exist at the state level.
‘The only one’
Ultimately, Maloy hopes that the federal funding that is allocated for the Great Salt Lake this year is used to support the state in achieving its goals, and providing helpful resources, instead of taking the project out of local hands.
As Maloy defends her record in a race against former lawmaker Phil Lyman, she has framed her exclusive committee roles in the U.S. House as making her Utah’s best bet at getting help for the Great Salt Lake.
“This is an issue that matters the most in Utah. I’m the only Utahn on appropriations,” Maloy said in May. “So it’s going to take a lot of work on my part, but I’m really the only one in a position to do it right now.”
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
WASHINGTON, Washington County — Classic car collectors gathered Friday morning for a procession in remembrance of Dennis “Deny” Rutkoskie, who died while driving his Model T Ford last month.
The procession was held on what would have been Rutkoskie’s 85th birthday. According to friends, he was a well-known figure in the classic-car collecting community in southern Utah and owned more than 20 classic cars, which he showcased at his shop in Washington.
Longtime friend Doug Chambers brought his 2006 Ford Mustang to the event and said that the procession was less about cars and more about honoring the great man Rutkoskie truly was.
“He was always a great guy, and every week we would meet at Cracker Barrel for what we called, Hot Rod Hangout,” Chambers said. “He would drive a different car every time, it might be a Rolls-Royce one week, and the next week it would be the Model T, or it could be one of his 1904 racers.
“(Losing Deny) was a shock — just a gut punch,” he added. “Myself and my friends couldn’t believe it was real, and then we started seeing pictures on social media and KSL. It’s hard to believe. … When we lose someone, it’s really hard.”
The procession, which included upwards of 50 classic cars, started at the Walmart in Washington City and went down Washington Fields Road all the way to Rutkoskie’s car museum. It was led by local law enforcement and spearheaded by friends such as Tony Lonnett, president of the Desert Rodders Car Club of Southwest Utah.
Lonnett spoke of Rutkoskie’s generosity and reflected on spending time with him during the annual Shop With a Cop event, to which Rutkoskie was a large donor.
“This is a sad event, but it’s going to be really joyous,” he said. “(The procession) shows respect for a man who had the love of cars and enjoyed them immensely. (Deny’s) the kind of guy who made me reflect on how to be a better man. That’s Denny.”
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
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