STOP
STRATOS
A massive data center is threatening our airshed and the Great Salt Lake​​
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A billionaire celebrity investor is on the cusp of a major tax gift and special arrangement with the State of Utah to build an enormous data center north of the Great Salt Lake called the “Stratos Project.” This development would need more electricity than is currently consumed in Utah, fed by new methane gas plants in a location that could contribute to the Wasatch Front’s terrible air.
BUILT BY BILLIONAIRES.
PAID FOR BY UTAHNS.
Ranchers, farmers, sportsmen, and local residents understand something that can’t be replaced once it’s lost: water, open land, clean air, and functioning rural communities. The Great Salt Lake basin is already under extraordinary strain, and projects of this size could permanently reshape the region while shifting long-term costs onto Utah families and taxpayers.
MASSIVE CLIMATE IPACTS
Don’t be fooled by disingenuous language that the plants will be located “outside of the Wasatch Front air quality nonattainment area.” The developers are exploiting a technical definition to distract from the reality that these plants will often be upwind of the majority of state residents and easily capable of worsening our winter inversions and summer ozone.
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Finally, there is not even lip service to the massive climate impacts of this project. It will be powered by fossil fuels. The largest part of Utah’s carbon footprint comes from electricity production and this development could raise our statewide carbon emissions by 50%! If the public is subsidizing this project with tax breaks it should receive clean energy that helps our grid and lowers utility prices.
KEPT SECRET FOR A REASON
Neither Box Elder County nor MIDA have provided the public with commitments or any real information on water and power use from this project. See for yourself: here is all of the information available concerning the project from Box Elder County and good luck finding details on MIDA’s website. Disappointingly, key backers of the project excuse this lack of planning and information–and the rush to subsidize Stratos–on the jingoistic plea that we can’t let “China win.”
Vague fears of China are no reason to sacrifice our climate, our air, and our Lake.
EVERYONE CAN PLAY A PART
We’re working with local residents of Box Elder County to support legal action and signature gathering, and we're organizing with environmental and democracy partners statewide.
