SALT LAKE CITY – Opponents of the proposed Stratos Data Center in Box Elder County who seem intent on keeping pressure on state officials will stage another public protest in Salt Lake City on Saturday, May 23.
That rally is slated for 11 a.m. on the south steps of the Utah State Capitol, where organizers promise to provide resources to help residents join their campaign against the abrupt development in northern Utah.
A ballot referendum effort targeting the data center project is being led by the recently organized Box Elder Accountability Referendum group (B.E.A.R). That group is seeking to gather nearly 5,500 voter signatures to get a referendum on the data center on the ballot in November.
The Saturday gathering is a follow-up to a similar State Capitol protest on May 14 that drew a crowd estimated by Utah Highway Patrol officials at up to 400.
The leaders of the May 14 rally chanted “no data center” and demanded that state officials — including the quasi-official Military Installation Development Authority (MIDA) — renounce their previous support for the Stratos Project.
Many of those rally attendees expressed concerns about the environmental impacts of the proposed nine gigawatt facility, including the noise and heat of its carbon footprint and whether the data center would harm the already imperiled Great Salt Lake.
Organizers of the planned May 23 gathering at the State Capitol are urging attendees to remain peaceful and to de-escalate any confrontations that might arise.
They have also issued explicit instructions to supporters that weapons of any kind are not welcome at the rally.
Sponsors of the Salt Lake City rally include We The People Cache Valley, various Indivisible groups, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Utah State Progressive Caucus, the Party for Socialism & Liberation, the Utah Chapter of the Sierra Club, Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment and the Utah Outdoor Association.
In addition to B.E.A.R., advocacy groups also on record as opposing the Box Elder data center include Elevate Strategies, the Alliance for a Better Utah, Grow the Flow, the Great Salt Lake Audubon Society and the Utah Democratic Party, among others.
The State Capitol is located at 350 North State Street in Salt Lake City.