Alliance for a Better Utah issues statement in response to poorly researched claims
Salt Lake City, UT –Today, Alliance for a Better Utah issued a statement in response to poorly researched claims by Kevin O’Leary, primary investor in the deeply unpopular data center development in Box Elder County. O’Leary made a number of baseless statements about the organization, its founder, a former employee, and a number of Utah-based organizations.
Elizabeth Hutchings, Communications Manager for Alliance for a Better Utah, issued the following statement:
“The only foreign interest in this data center is Kevin from Canada. It’s insulting to Utahns across the state to say that any opposition or protest to this data center is the work of a foreign government. We are proud to live in a state where there are people who deeply care about transparency, their community and their kids’ futures. It is not strange to us that Utahns want to feel heard in decisions that will impact their lives for decades to come.
Holding your government accountable to ensure that they look out for your best interests is not the work of foreign infiltration, it is upholding the principles America was founded upon. And it is emblematic of the principles on which Alliance for a Better Utah was founded, in Utah, 15 years ago.
The issues with the deeply unpopular and problematic project in Box Elder County remain. This is not the first time we’ve dealt with bullies like Kevin trying to intimidate us into silence. No amount of propaganda and dramatic distractions will stop us from talking about the real issue; a lack of transparency from our government.
Utahns deserve answers and input into the data center – a goal with which Kevin says he agrees. So perhaps he should put less time into reading publicly available documents as though that’s “deep research,” and focus a bit more on answering the public’s questions.“
The data center project, which has drawn ire from Utahns across the political spectrum, still has a number of environmental studies and approvals to navigate before it begins construction.
Alliance for a Better Utah is a nonprofit that holds politicians accountable and advocates for progressive policies that make Utah an even better place. The organization improves the lives of all Utahns through advocacy, transparency, and accountability in Utah politics, policy, and government. More information at www.betterutah.org.
