Public opposition to the Project Cosmo mega datacenter was already growing before the bacteria incident. The Cowboy State Daily reported in May on pushback to projects in Cheyenne and elsewhere in Wyoming, including environmental questions…
But Narulla said the new resolution was likely to have the greatest influence on climate diplomacy. “The international community is showing that Cop is not the only forum that matters and, if progress stalls there, then climate action will…
Nearly 4,000 people have lodged objections to the project being approved, with this pushback leading to contentious public meetings that Lee Perry, the Box Elder county commissioner, said have left him feeling “physically sick” amid…
Public opposition to the Project Cosmo mega datacenter was already growing before the bacteria incident.
The Cowboy State Daily reported in May on pushback to projects in Cheyenne and elsewhere in Wyoming, including environmental questions about the safety and integrity of so-called closed loop cooling systems used by Meta and their tech company rivals pushing the artificial intelligence revolution.
But Narulla said the new resolution was likely to have the greatest influence on climate diplomacy. “The international community is showing that Cop is not the only forum that matters and, if progress stalls there, then climate action will be pursued through the general assembly and in other multilateral spaces.”
Rebecca Newsom, the global political lead at Greenpeace International, said the timing of the vote, after the inaugural fossil fuel phaseout conference in Santa Marta, Colombia, last month and the impact of the energy crisis on the fossil fuel industry, showed “political momentum is clearly growing”.
Nearly 4,000 people have lodged objections to the project being approved, with this pushback leading to contentious public meetings that Lee Perry, the Box Elder county commissioner, said have left him feeling “physically sick” amid alleged death threats and false accusations.
O’Leary has claimed in social media posts that most of the protesters don’t live locally and have been paid to object to the project. “There are professional protesters that are paid by somebody, I don’t know who,” O’Leary said in a video posted to X last week. “They’re being bused in.”
Opponents of the project have rejected this accusation. On Monday, a group calling itself the Box Elder Accountability Referendum filed an application for a referendum to reverse the commissioners’ approval of Stratos. If the group is able to collect 5,422 signatures from registered voters in the county in the next 45 days, the project approval will go to a vote in November.
“Instead of speaking with us, Kevin O’Leary went on social media saying we were out-of-state, paid protesters, and we don’t want people from out-of-state making decisions for us,” said Brenna Williams, lead sponsor of the referendum push.
“The only thing he’s right about is that we don’t want him, an out-of-state billionaire, making decisions for us.”
March on Washington - Aug 28 2026 - Defend the Vote
March on Washington - August 28: gather in Washington DC to Defend the Vote
Join this peaceful, nonpartisan, interfaith, and intergenerational gathering as we defend the right to vote and protect democracy. We are not gathering simply to remember history - we are gathering to make it.
Check out Mobilize to find protests, postcard-writing parties, virtual events, and volunteer opportunities.
Action is the antidote to fear and despair.
Even doing small things - learning more about how we can strengthen our democracy, sharing what you know with others, making a phone call - can make a difference.
