In Video 7 of our ongoing series, “Gov. Cox, Just How Stupid Do You Think We Are?”, UPHE President Dr. Brian Moench looks at what is already happening in Europe as extreme heat and drought collide with nuclear power.

Across Europe, record heat, drought and shrinking rivers are putting tremendous pressure on water supplies. Nuclear plants that rely on water for cooling have been forced to reduce output or shut down when water levels become too low or water temperatures too high.

That should matter enormously to Utah.

Our state is already confronting hotter temperatures, severe drought, declining water resources and the ongoing struggle to protect Great Salt Lake. Climate change is expected to intensify many of those pressures.

So why would Utah double down on an energy source that itself depends heavily on water?

As Brian explains in the video, the experience in Europe offers a warning about relying on nuclear power in an increasingly hot and water-scarce future.

And yet Gov. Spencer Cox and other Utah leaders continue to promote nuclear development in our state.

Take Action

Call Gov. Spencer Cox at (801) 538-1000 and ask why Utah is pushing nuclear power in a state already facing severe water scarcity.

Just how oblivious to reality are you?

Watch Video 7 above and share it with other Utahns.

Learn More

Read UPHE’s The Case Against Nuclear Power in Utah, including our full report and additional information about the public health, environmental and economic risks of nuclear power:

https://www.uphe.org/the-case-against-nuclear-power-in-utah/

Utah’s energy decisions will shape our health, water, and environment for decades. Utahns deserve policies grounded in science and the realities of living in one of the driest states in the country.

The announcement sounded encouraging. It called for protecting Utah’s water resources, Great Salt Lake and air quality, while also addressing impacts on utility ratepayers and surrounding communities.

But as UPHE President Dr. Brian Moench writes in a new letter to our members, there’s an important question we need answered:

What has actually changed?

Nearly two dozen additional data centers are in various stages of the approval process in Utah. Meanwhile, the ongoing fight over a massive proposed data center development in Tooele County has exposed serious questions about water use, water quality, Great Salt Lake, air pollution and the adequacy of environmental review.

As Brian writes:

“So far, it seems like nothing has really changed as a result of that executive order, and no new obstacles or standards for data centers have been adopted.”

We need Utahns to call Gov. Cox and ask his office to follow through.

📞 CALL GOV. COX: 801-538-1000

Not sure what to say? It can be this simple:

“Hi, I’m calling to ask Governor Cox what concrete protections have been put in place since his May 29 executive order on data centers. I want Utah to protect our water, air quality, Great Salt Lake and utility ratepayers as new data centers are considered. Please follow through on the higher standards the Governor promised.”

That’s it. A couple of minutes and one phone call.

Data centers are rapidly expanding across Utah. Decisions being made now could have consequences for our water, air, energy system, Great Salt Lake and communities for decades.

Promises are a start. Now we need meaningful protections to back them up.

Make the call. Then tell us how it went.

After you contact the Governor’s Office, leave a comment below and tell us you called, and let us know what response you received.

And please share this post with other Utahns. The more people who speak up, the harder this issue becomes to ignore.

Not long ago, proposals to bring more nuclear waste, especially high-level nuclear waste—to Utah faced fierce public and political opposition. Today, state leaders are openly pursuing nuclear development as part of Utah’s energy future.

So what changed?

In Video 6 of UPHE’s “Gov. Cox, Do You Really Think We’re This Stupid?” series, Dr. Brian Moench argues that it certainly wasn’t the science.

The concerns surrounding nuclear power haven’t disappeared: radiation exposure, uranium mining and mill tailings, radioactive waste, the enormous cost of new nuclear development, and the environmental and public health impacts associated with the nuclear fuel cycle.

What has changed is the enormous demand for electricity from AI data centers—and the political push to provide it.

In this video, Dr. Moench examines the relationship between Big Tech’s growing energy demands and the renewed push for nuclear power, as well as federal efforts to weaken regulations intended to protect communities from radiation exposure and other risks.

Watch Video 6 below.

Take Action

Utah families shouldn’t be asked to shoulder the costs and risks of powering Big Tech.

📞 Call Governor Spencer Cox’s office at (801) 538-1000 and tell him:

“Stop taxpayer subsidies for data centers and nuclear power. Start protecting Utah families.”

Learn More

For more information, read UPHE’s The Case Against Nuclear Power in Utah, including our full report and additional resources examining the health, environmental, economic, and radioactive-waste concerns surrounding nuclear power:

https://www.uphe.org/the-case-against-nuclear-power-in-utah/

In Video 5, Dr. Brian Moench responds to reports that Utah leaders are negotiating a proposal that could make Utah the nation’s primary destination for high-level nuclear waste in exchange for federal funding tied to Great Salt Lake restoration.

In this video, Dr. Moench explains why high-level nuclear waste remains hazardous for hundreds of thousands of years, why no country has found a permanent solution for its disposal, and why expanding the nuclear fuel cycle in Utah would expose future generations to unnecessary environmental and public health risks. He also reflects on Utah’s history of radioactive exposure and the lasting legacy of downwinders as a reminder of what’s at stake.

Watch the video below.

Take Action

If you agree, call Governor Cox’s office at (801) 538-1000 and tell him:

• Don’t waste Utah.

• Nuclear waste isn’t a solution for our future.

• Protect Utahns and future generations.

Learn More

Read UPHE’s The Case Against Nuclear Power in Utah, where you’ll find our full report and additional information about the risks of nuclear power:

https://www.uphe.org/the-case-against-nuclear-power-in-utah/

If you find this video informative, please share it and consider subscribing to receive future installments in this series.

One of Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment’s core missions is to translate the latest medical research into practical information that helps people protect their health.

For years, physicians and researchers have documented the connection between air pollution and poor pregnancy outcomes. Unfortunately, the scientific evidence continues to grow.

A newly published study examined mixtures of hazardous air pollutants, providing a more realistic picture of the air people actually breathe rather than looking at individual pollutants in isolation. Researchers found that exposure to these pollution mixtures significantly increased the risk of preterm birth, with the greatest risk occurring during weeks 9 through 14 of pregnancy, a critical period when the placenta and many of a baby’s major organs are developing.

Perhaps the study’s most concerning finding is that many of the pollution levels associated with increased risk would have been considered “safe” under the current Air Quality Index (AQI). That’s because the AQI evaluates pollutants individually rather than considering the combined mixtures people are exposed to every day.

For Utah families, this research is especially relevant.

Our state regularly experiences some of the nation’s worst winter inversions, elevated summertime ozone, and increasing wildfire smoke. Together, these pollution events expose communities to a complex mix of contaminants that can have serious health consequences, not only for those with existing medical conditions, but even for babies before they are born.

Long before this latest study, UPHE was helping educate the public about these risks. In 2015, we hosted a physician-led seminar exploring the growing evidence linking air pollution to miscarriage, preterm birth, low birth weight, and other adverse pregnancy outcomes. More than a decade later, the science has become even stronger, while the message remains unchanged:

Cleaner air leads to healthier pregnancies, healthier babies, and healthier communities.

Protecting air quality isn’t simply about improving the environment. It’s about protecting the health of every Utahn, including our most vulnerable residents, before they ever take their first breath.

Learn More

📖 Read the study:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41370-026-00933-z

🎧 Listen to UPHE’s physician-led seminar on air pollution and pregnancy:
https://kcpw.org/announcements/2015-02-06/uphe-seminar-air-pollution-pregnancy/

📚 Explore more research on the health impacts of air pollution:
https://www.uphe.org/air-pollution-health/new-research/

Our federal government is protecting pesticides over people.

In a major victory for Monsanto and its parent company, Bayer, the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that federal pesticide-labeling law blocks certain state lawsuits alleging that Roundup failed to warn users about potential cancer risks.

Because Roundup’s EPA-approved label does not require a cancer warning, people who say they were harmed by the product may now have fewer options to hold its manufacturer accountable through state failure-to-warn claims. The Court ruled that federal law preempts a claim that would effectively require Monsanto to add a warning not required on the federally approved label.

This ruling exposes a dangerous disconnect between public-health protections and the law.

Scientific and regulatory organizations do not agree about glyphosate’s cancer risk. However, the World Health Organization’s cancer research agency has classified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans.” When credible concerns exist, the public deserves transparency about potential risks, not fewer avenues for accountability.

Why this matters in Utah

UPHE has long opposed the widespread use of glyphosate and other hazardous pesticides by government agencies along Utah’s roadsides, trails, waterways and public lands.

These chemicals do not simply disappear after they are sprayed. They can drift beyond their intended targets, enter waterways and expose workers, recreationists and nearby communities.

Children, pregnant people, older adults and people with chronic illnesses may be especially vulnerable to environmental exposures.

Government agencies should prioritize safer alternatives and minimize unnecessary pesticide use, especially in places where people live, work and recreate.

When agencies continue relying on hazardous chemicals despite safer options, and courts limit the public’s ability to hold manufacturers accountable, the burden falls squarely on our communities.

Public health should never take a back seat to corporate interests or outdated regulations.

The Utah Division of Water Quality is accepting public comments on Permit UT0026409, a proposed water quality permit for a Utah Inland Port Authority (UIPA)-backed industrial development in Tooele Valley.

If approved, the permit would allow 252,000 gallons of concentrated brine per day from a reverse osmosis treatment plant to be discharged into wetlands just 1.6 miles from Great Salt Lake, where the wastewater would flow toward Gilbert Bay.

UPHE is concerned because the proposed permit:

• Contains no enforceable limits on salt, chloride, or arsenic.

• Supports a project backed by more than $240 million in taxpayer-backed infrastructure financing.

• Is tied to a development that includes plans for a 500-megawatt data center, raising concerns about long-term water demand, air pollution, and cumulative impacts on Great Salt Lake.

Following requests from UPHE, partner organizations, and many Utahns, the Utah Division of Water Quality has scheduled a public hearing for July 27, and written public comments will be accepted through the close of business that day.

UPHE encourages Utahns to review the proposal, read our submitted comments, and consider requesting that Permit UT0026409 be denied as written because it does not adequately protect Great Salt Lake wetlands or account for cumulative environmental impacts in an already over-stressed basin.

📖 Learn more, review UPHE’s comments, and find guidance for submitting your own comments:

https://www.uphe.org/2026/06/16/help-stop-another-data-center-proposal-tooele/

At the center of the debate is a proposed state-backed industrial development in Tooele County that includes plans for a 500-megawatt data center and a reverse osmosis treatment plant seeking permission to discharge concentrated brine into wetlands connected to Great Salt Lake.

The op-ed explores whether Utah’s stated commitment to protecting the lake is being reflected in decisions about taxpayer subsidies, water use, pollution, and the rapid expansion of AI infrastructure.

Following requests from UPHE and partner organizations, the Utah Division of Water Quality has scheduled a public hearing on July 27, with written public comments accepted through the close of business that day.

📖 Read the full op-ed:
https://www.uphe.org/2026/06/30/uphe-op-ed-the-peasants-must-continue-the-rebellion/

Throughout the week, we’ll also be sharing more about the proposed Tooele development, the upcoming public hearing, and what’s at stake for Great Salt Lake.

As wildfire season continues, it’s also an important time to rethink how we communicate about wildfire smoke and air quality.

A recent Salt Lake Tribune opinion piece by Brenna Kelly, Ph.D., highlights a key public health concern: the Air Quality Index (AQI) doesn’t always fully reflect the health risks associated with wildfire smoke. During smoke events, people may be exposed to harmful pollutants even when AQI readings don’t appear especially alarming.

At UPHE, we’ve long advocated for stronger public health messaging that helps people better understand these risks and take steps to protect themselves.

Read more about Dr. Kelly’s article and UPHE’s perspective here:
https://www.uphe.org/2026/06/30/salt-lake-tribune-voices-its-time-to-rethink-our-messaging-around-wildfire-smoke-and-air-quality/

You likely have seen ads from the state cheerleading for nuclear power. The battle over AI data centers has become the same battle over nuclear power, because the AI industry sees nuclear power as the only way to satisfy their insatiable demand for power.

For decades the nuclear power industry has been evasive and dishonest about all the risks and consequences of the nuclear fuel chain and now the state is helping with what is a highly dishonest propaganda campaign to make Utahns forget about the dangers of nuclear radiation. If there is any state that should refuse to expose its people to another round of nuclear radiation it should be Utah, with hundreds of thousands of us being downwinder victims.

In a series of videos I call, “Gov. Cox, just how stupid do you think we are?” we call out the state’s campaign to whitewash the nuclear power industry and the risks of nuclear radiation. Here is the first.

https://www.facebook.com/utahphysiciansforahealthyenvironment/videos/2126551677927707

Utah is running out of water, Great Salt Lake is shrinking, and wildfire smoke is choking our air, yet state leaders are still backing more water-intensive, polluting development tied to AI data centers.

Join UPHE and partner groups Thursday at the Utah State Capitol ahead of the Utah Inland Port Authority meeting as we push back against another proposed data center project tied to Great Salt Lake wetlands in Tooele County.

Press conference: 12:30 PM, UIPA board meeting: 1 PM

Utah State Capitol – Presentation Room

Can’t make it in person? We’ll be livestreaming the press conference on Facebook.

Learn more: https://www.uphe.org/.../help-stop-another-data-center.../

Watch the video linked below and share

https://www.facebook.com/reel/2150925222359077

The project includes 4,910 acres of thinning treatments and up to 11,794 acres of prescribed burning, along with herbicide use in some areas.

UPHE opposes this project because it could worsen smoke pollution, harm wildlife habitat, damage forest health, and leave long-term scars on one of the Wasatch’s most treasured canyons. “Prescribed” does not mean harmless. Smoke from prescribed burns still contains dangerous particulate pollution and other toxic emissions that can harm public health, especially along the Wasatch Front.

The agency’s own map shows just how extensive the proposed treatment area is.

Comments are due tomorrow, June 23.

If you care about Big Cottonwood Canyon, please take a moment to submit a comment and share this with others who may want to weigh in.

Read UPHE’s comments and find the link to submit your own here:
https://www.uphe.org/2026/06/22/comments-to-the-forest-service-on-big-cottonwood-canyon-watershed-restoration-project-303870/

Thank you for speaking up for Big Cottonwood Canyon.

BRIAN MOENCH

JUN 20, 2026

I woke up this morning and my house smelled like smoke because I had inadvertently left a window open last night about an inch. We’ve had wildfires and brush fires in the area, no doubt that is the reason why the air so bad this morning. But if you live on the East side of the SL Valley, what the US Forest Service (USFS) is planning will make you breathe this kind of air pollution every fall and spring for the next ten years. Like tens of thousands of other Utahns, I have a life threatening medical condition highly exacerbated by air pollution, so I have no choice but to go to war against the USFS’s plans for Big Cottonwood Canyon. I hope you’ll join me. Please read on.

One only need look at the anemic snow pack in the Wasatch Mountains to see the heavy footprint of the climate crisis in real time in Utah. Drought-stressed forests certainly face increased wildfire risk, but the USFS’s solution to protecting our forests from wildfires is to cut and burn them down pre-emptively. And they intend to start in Big Cottonwood Canyon (BCC). It’s reminiscent of the American army officer that said about a village during the Vietnam War, “It became necessary to destroy the town to save it.”

Thanks for reading Brian’s Substack! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Invoking a tiresome and largely false premise--that Western forests are overgrown, unhealthy tinderboxes from decades of fire suppression—the USFS intends to launch a ten year long, chain saw extravaganza, called the “Big Cottonwood Canyon Watershed Restoration Project.” A more honest description is, “We’re going to butcher the forest into smaller pieces so there is less for a wildfire to burn.” They plan “thinning treatments” on 4,910 acres, and up to 11,794 acres of prescribed burning of national forest in BCC and its tributaries.”

For the next decade, visitors hoping to see the beauty of nature in Big Cottonwood Canyon will be treated to buzzing chain saws, slash piles, and hideous burn scars. At night, throughout the fall and spring, canyon winds will reign down toxic smoke on the Valley’s Eastside. The canyon’s aesthetic disfigurement will be visible for at least 20 years. Loss of wildlife may be permanent.

It gets worse. The euphemisms, “prescribed” and “treatment,” are intentionally used to suggest a doctor ordered it, but this project is forest and wildfire malpractice, climate malpractice, and public health malpractice.

The USFS has constructed an “excessive fuels” narrative that has convinced many policy makers and mountain home owners that high severity fire in the worst possible places is inevitable without “treatment,” otherwise known as deforestation, which they claim reduces fire risk and severity. Many independent forest researchers offer a markedly contrasting opinion on both counts.

The climate crisis is the main driver of Western forests’ new wildfire vulnerability, not tree density or “excessive fuels.” The largest relevant study ever done, examining over 1,500 fires covering 23 million acres, concluded the more “thinning” of trees in a forest the more quickly and intensely a wildfire burns. Thinning reduces forest shade, increases forest temperature and wind speed, dries out soil and vegetation, and stresses remaining trees. The most widely cited forest ecologist in the world, Dr. David Lindenmayer, author of 48 books on forests, says, “logged forests always burn at greater severity than intact forests.” In other words, this is forest malpractice.

The chance of a wildfire encountering a “prescribed burn” area is 2-4%. So the USFS is causing a lot of guaranteed harm for a small chance of questionable benefit. That’s like putting all your retirement money into lottery tickets— extremely poor risk management.

It is also climate malpractice. Every one of the thousands of trees to be cut down in BCC and throughout the Wasatch tilts that carbon equation in the wrong direction. The slash piles will be turned into bonfires, immediately releasing more CO2, and launching deadly pollution in every direction, including black carbon nanoparticles that accelerate the melt of mountain snow-pack and are the most potent climate forcer after CO2.

It is public health malpractice. Putting the word “prescribed” in front of “burn” fools some people into thinking the smoke is benign. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, emissions from “low intensity” prescribed burns may be more toxic than those from large wildfires. Other studies have shown that per ton of biomass burned, low intensity burns produce more smoke emissions than higher intensity burns. Not surprisingly, a recent study concluded that smoke from prescribed burns kills more people than wildfire smoke.

The residual ash from thousands of slash pile bonfires are essentially unlined, unregulated, mini-superfund sites. They are saturated with the same witch’s brew of toxins that contaminate the smoke—heavy metals, PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons), dioxins, acrolein, formaldehyde, and hydroxide ions that sterilize the soil, and may seep into groundwater and even surface water. The USFS frequently covers those piles with plastic tarps, burning them as well, increasing the toxicity.

The project includes spraying herbicides to kill saplings and other unwanted vegetation. Herbicides are biologic poisons to virtually all organisms proven to cause a wide range of human and wildlife diseases at relevant environmental exposures. Of pesticides released since 2015, 70% of them are also PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” the most toxic industrial chemicals ever produced for which the Biden EPA declared there is essentially no safe level of exposure. It is jarring that the USFS claims this project will protect watershed and water quality while adding toxic chemicals.

The smoke we’re smelling today is from two lightning-caused fires in Lincoln County Nevada, 200+ miles away, driven by drought, wind, and low snowpack. No amount of pile burning in Big Cottonwood Canyon will stop that, and we will pay a heavy price for the USFS’s commitment to this false narrative.

The USFS is trying to fast track this project by calling it an “emergency.” They are accepting comments only until June 23. If you worry about the future of one of Utah’s most important scenic landscapes, right in our backyard, if your worry about your own health, please send your comments to:

https://cara.fs2c.usda.gov/Public/CommentInput...

Look at the video clips of the staggering amount of pollution that is caused by the FS’s pile burning, the kind they plan for Big Cottonwood Canyon.

This is a little long, but necessarily so. You can also listen to this post if you prefer.

Data centers are not the only way that Americans are being exploited by Big Tech.

If ever there was a real-life Lex Luthor, DC Comics’ corrupt billionaire villain, its Elon Musk. We’re still reeling from the damage he did to the entire country through his DOGE farce, promising to cut $2 trillion of “waste, fraud, and abuse.” Well Musk did butcher the federal government, fired hundreds of thousands of workers, hollowed out critical, life-saving research, among many critical government programs, but federal spending actually went up. Everything about DOGE was a lie, and pretty much everything about Elon Musk is also a lie.

But that damage is done, why bring this up now? Because many people stand to make a lot of money off the snake oil of miraculous artificial intelligence, and that means you too are about to send money to Elon Musk and you likely don’t know it. Much of the more esoteric financial information that follows comes from New York Times technology reporter, Ryan Mac.

First let’s review Elon Musk’s business track record.

Elon has a long history of grandiose promises untethered to reality, yet investors continue to give him money because they are following the herd. He’s perhaps the world’s most successful snake oil salesman after Donald Trump. He’s promised self-driving cars since 2014. Obviously that’s not happening, and meanwhile Tesla’s core car business is collapsing. But Elon says not to worry, Tesla shareholders, because Tesla’s business is pivoting to robotaxis, robots, and “humanoids.”

There’s Musk’s 21st century version of the Edsel, his Cybertruck. You can’t give them away. Musk pronounced his scissor-doored “Cyber cabs” would “transform city parking lots into parks.” Anyone seen any “Cyber cabs”? Musk said his “Optimus robots” “will be making Teslas” and “dwarf the value of the cars.” That’s not happening. He said he will sell “tens of billions of his AI powered robots,” that demand for them will be “insatiable.” He says they will be “humanoid baby sitters.” We already have those BTW, they’re called teenagers. You can watch a video pitching Elon Musk’s “Dark Energy” that he claims will be a “ten trillion dollar company.” I guess that’s some kind of Star Wars, “May the force be with us.”

Remember the “Hyperloop” from Musk’s The Boring Company, and magnetic levitation capsules we could all travel in at more than 600 mph? It turned out to be a 2 mile tunnel in Las Vegas filled with Teslas that travel 30 mph. Then there’s Musk’s Neurolink “brain chips,” that will cure paralysis, and give us superhuman vision and telepathy.

Now Musk is tossing out even more absurd, nonsense that would make Donald Trump blush. He has put his dreams of colonizing Mars on hold because he says that would “take 20 years,” and is broadcasting that SpaceX is critical to his intention of creating a “self-growing city on the moon,” because that will “only take ten years.”

Based on Musk’s hallucinations of planting human colonies elsewhere in the solar system and his claims that SpaceX will launch 1 million orbital AI data centers into space with enough power to create 100 terawatts of compute a year (an astronomical figure), SpaceX is filing for an IPO that will be released in a few days creating an expected $1.75 trillion valuation for the company. It would be the biggest IPO in history and make it one of the top ten most valuable companies in the world.

To be clear, no one’s ever going to live on Mars, or even on the moon for more than a few hours at a time, the radiation alone in deep space would be a prohibitive health disaster. Yes, through physics and engineering we can reach the moon, maybe even Mars. But physics and engineering won’t change human physiology and biology. Humans will not be able to stay there, and children have no chance of surviving in space, so there will never be “self-growing colonies.”

And to get a million satellite data centers in space, Musk would have to launch 274 satellites every day for the next ten years, and then they would all have to replaced about every five years. Yet Musk gets news coverage from mainstream sources as if this utter BS is actually to be taken seriously, with headlines like “Musk vows to put data centers in space…” instead of what should be, “Musk hallucinating on ketamine again.” There are no solid business fundamentals here. People are investing in pure science fiction. Not that anyone seems to care, but the SpaceX’s prospectus warnings to investors about what could go wrong runs 38 pages.

SpaceX is losing money--net loss in 2025 of over $9 billion and is $29 billion in debt because he used SpaceX to acquire his two complete loser companies, xAI and Twitter (X)--both are losing billions of dollars a year. So why is this absurd SpaceX IPO from the world’s wealthiest con artist possible?

The mystique of Elon Musk’s supposed genius and his appeal to gullible, greedy people has convinced several major stock market index providers, including the NASDAQ 100 and Russell FTSE, to include SpaceX in these indexes much sooner than they normally would, and with an abnormally small fraction of shares available to the public. Retirement accounts invest in these stock market indexes, and that means your retirement account will be forced, yes forced, to purchase shares of Musk’s highly unprofitable company, SpaceX, whether you want to or not, simply because these market decision makers are falling for Musk’s hype.

Any passive index fund that mirrors the Nasdaq 100 will soon be required to buy SpaceX shares, even at the inflated prices. That will further inflate SpaceX’s index weighting, and in turn, obligate trackers like Invesco QQQ to buy even more shares. The equity in the company will “sky rocket,” pardon the disgusting pun. To make matters worse, SpaceX insiders will be able to sell their shares much sooner than normal, which, given its unprofitability, they certainly will do. That’s essentially stealing money, including from you and your retirement account.

The vast majority of shares will remain in insider hands. Musk owns 50% of the stock but 85% of the share-holder votes. That means whatever board he has will be a farce, staffed with his friends, and he will award himself essentially whatever he wants for a pay package, even more obscene than he has with Tesla. The SpaceX IPO is nothing more than a pump and dump.

Regardless, NASDAQ will make plenty of money because IPO companies have to pay NASDAQ significant listing fees and institutional investors must pay execution fees. The S&P may do something similar which would add even more to Musk’s wealth. And 23 sponsoring banks stand to make a lot of money from this. Because of all that, the rules that keep our markets fair and accountable are being contorted, if not shattered for Elon’s benefit, their own benefit, for relentless worship of AI, and all at your expense.

We are likely see the same bending of the rules when Open AI and Anthropic also register for IPOs after SpaceX, and you are likely to pay dearly for their unprofitable companies as well. So not only are they stealing our water, burning massive amounts of dirty energy, fouling our air, warming the planet, and jacking up the cost of electricity for their data centers, Wall St. is letting AI companies fleece our retirement accounts as well.

Thanks to financial institutions’ stupidity, greed, corruption, and gullibility about the miracle and inevitability of AI, your retirement savings are about to help make Elon Musk the world’s first trillionaire, and other Big Tech billionaires even more wealthy by taking money from you. And think of all the damage that can be done to society and our political system with an even wealthier Elon Musk.

Hey, Wall Street, are you really this stupid, or just this corrupt?

If you have a retirement account you owe it to yourself and the rest of us to find out if you are about to send your money to Elon Musk.

The EPA under Director Lee Zeldin is proposing a major rollback of one of the most important protections in the Clean Air Act in order to accelerate construction of major pollution sources like AI data centers.

For decades, the EPA has required major sources of pollution to obtain an air quality permit before construction can begin. This long-standing requirement exists to ensure that pollution from new facilities will not cause violations of national clean air standards or threaten public health.

Now, the EPA is proposing to allow construction of every part of a facility except the actual source of pollution before an air quality permit is obtained.

This change would create enormous pressure not to halt projects that are already partially built, with hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars already invested in construction. Once large industrial projects are substantially underway, stopping or significantly altering them becomes far more difficult, even if major environmental or public health concerns emerge during the permitting process.

The proposal has raised serious concerns in Utah, where communities are already facing worsening air pollution, prolonged drought, toxic dust from the drying Great Salt Lake, and increasing pressure from industrial development proposals tied to AI data center expansion.

Making this proposal even more concerning is a law passed by the Utah Legislature during the most recent session, SB234, which prohibits state agencies from adopting environmental rules stricter than federal EPA standards. Taken together, these policies could make it far more difficult for Utah regulators to require meaningful environmental review before large industrial projects move forward.

The EPA is holding a national virtual hearing on the proposed rule change on Thursday, May 28, beginning at 8:00 a.m. MST. Many speakers opposing the proposal are expected to be from Utah, where concerns over AI data center expansion and associated pollution impacts continue to grow.

“This rule change would be a huge gift to the AI data center industry, and at the same time makes a mockery of the statutory obligation of the EPA to protect public health. Under this director, the EPA has been turned into the Polluter Protection Agency. This rule change is one of the most egregious examples of the perversion of what their mission is supposed to be.”

-Dr. Brian Moench, President of Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment

UPHE believes this proposed rule change undermines decades of Clean Air Act protections and threatens the ability of communities to meaningfully evaluate and respond to major pollution sources before construction is already underway.

Read the full press release here:

https://www.uphe.org/2026/05/27/epa-proposes-to-abandon-clean-air-act-to-fast-track-ai-data-center-construction/

“There is no safe level of air pollution exposure.”

That’s the warning from Dr. Brian Moench, President of Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment (UPHE), in response to claims that Utah’s growing AI data center expansion will not harm public health.

Medical research shows that even small increases in air pollution can have significant health impacts, especially for children, pregnant women, and vulnerable communities.

The relationship between pollution and disease is not linear. In fact, lower levels of exposure can produce disproportionately large health effects, as illustrated in the graph attached.

The bottom line for pollution from AI data centers: Many if not most of the 22 applications for new AI data centers in Utah will be given an air quality permit from the DAQ, because our federal and state laws are too weak to prevent their construction on that basis. But no one should be under any illusion from the propaganda being delivered by Kevin O’Leary or state officials that this AI data center building frenzy will not harm your health. That is not true. The propagandists either don’t understand the medical research, or they are purposely being deceptive, probably a combination of both.

We will say once again--Utah can be a great place to live, or we can be profit centers for Big Tech billionaires to increase their obscene wealth. But we can’t be both. KSL TV asked Dr. Moench to weigh in on this.

🔗 KSL coverage:
https://ksltv.com/local-news/no-safe-amount-experts-worry-state-regulations-wont-do-enough-to-protect-public-from-data-center-pollution/910456/

We are rallying at a press conference at the Utah State Capitol THIS THURSDAY, May 14th at 10:30 AM.

Join us this Thursday, May 14th at 10:30 a.m. on the South Steps of the Utah State Capitol as we deliver an open letter to Governor Cox opposing the Stratos data center, signed by over 5,000 people.

If you haven’t yet signed the open letter, please add your name before Thursday.

📍 South Steps, Utah State Capitol

🕥 Thursday, May 14 | 10:30 a.m.

UPHE will be speaking on the health impacts of these types of development, we’ll address government accountability and transparency, and the event will include musical performances from the newly formed choir “Singing the Resistance”.

Over 5,000 Utahns have signed our open letter calling on Governor Cox to reject this project. On Thursday, we are bringing that letter, and our voices, directly to his door.

Bring a sign. Bring a friend. Help us show the Governor and the press that Utahns are watching and will not stand by while our lake and wetlands are sacrificed for industrial profit.

If you haven’t yet signed the open letter, please add your name before Thursday.

Spread the word. Forward this email and share on social media.

Here’s what we know about this proposal (watch UPHE’s statement here):

• Stratos is being proposed by Canadian billionaire and Shark Tank celebrity, Kevin O’Leary

• The data center is projected to nearly double the entire state of Utah’s electricity 2025 peak demand at full build out

• It is being proposed to draw energy from an existing natural gas pipeline, but Governor Cox has said at full build-out, the state would like to see nuclear energy in place

• Developers are lying about and dismissing public opposition

• Developers are severely downplaying the amount of water required

• A Utah board agreed to cut the usual 6% energy tax to almost nothing, at .5%

• Utahns protested water rights for the development. At $15 each to protest, around $60,000 was given to the state agency. Developers withdrew the application but will reapply under new Utah law which benefits them.

• Utahns have submitted a referendum. It is unclear if it may proceed yet.

With 21 data centers proposed across the state, Utah could be forever changed if we don’t take a stand.

Our friends at Utah Clean Energy compiled the following estimates based on a full build out of the proposed 9 GW data center. The numbers vary depending on if energy is produced with combined-cycle combustion turbine (CCCT) or reciprocating internal combustion engine (RICE).

• Produce 1,857 - 12,000 tons of NOx/year.[i]

This is ~5 times more than the entirety of Box Elder County’s industrial emissions of NOx on the low end, or double the entire Salt Lake County industrial emissions of NOx, or equivalent to the annual NOx emissions from Utah’s entire oil/gas industry on the high end.

• Produce 30.2 - 41 million tons of CO2/year.2

This would increase Utah’s CO2 emissions by 55% on the low end.

• Use 2 - 16.6 billion gallons of water/year to operate the gas turbines.4

This amount of annual water use would fill approximately 25,000 Olympic-size swimming pools, on the high end.

In the last few days, the dismissive attitude of Utah’s politicians toward the will of the people of Utah has been on full display. Governor Cox, legislative leaders, and the Box Elder County Commissioners all joined hands in surrendering the state of Utah to the “too good to be true” sales pitch of celebrity investor, Kevin O’Leary, for a “Death Star” sized AI data center in western Box Elder County. O’Leary is planning the largest fossil fuel driven power plant in the Western United States whose pollution will blow over the Wasatch Front. It will be a huge blow to Utah’s air quality, public health, the Great Salt Lake, and our climate.

But what you likely don’t know is that as bad as this project is, it is only the largest of 21 planned data centers in the state of Utah, some of them right near the Great Salt Lake, and would siphon water from the lake at a time when everyone knows we are in a persistent, severe drought, and the lake is on its way to disappearing.

But this battle has only just begun. UPHE is joining forces with other environmental groups in the state to fight this. You will be hearing from us soon about what that fight will look like and how you can help. For now, we urge you to call the Gov.’s office, 801-538-1000, and let him know what you think about sacrificing Utah’s natural resources so Big Tech billionaires can make even more money

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One of the worst proposals for a Data Center yet

Shark Tank’s Canadian billionaire, Kevin O’Leary, has named Utah as a target for a less than exciting “investment.” He applauded Utah State officials for their eagerness to volunteer our great state for a ‘hyperscale’ data center.

The development is proposed for 40,000 acres in Box Elder County.

Most of us know by now the many, many environmental and health issues associated with data centers. People in communities with data centers have been speaking out about issues with their water quality, noise pollution, energy use, and climate changes, such as raising local temperatures as far out as 6 miles from these facilities, including temperature spikes as high as 16 degrees F above background.

In just the initial phase this particular project would use nearly as much energy as the entire state’s current average electricity use. At full build out, it would be more than double our current electricity use.

Oh yeah, developers would get a huge tax break too. A Utah board agreed to cut the usual 6% energy tax to almost nothing, at .5%, as if the Canadian billionaire behind it needs tax breaks that no one else can get.

The Box Elder County Commission held a meeting earlier this week. Although they did not allow public comment, the room was PACKED with concerned residents. The Commission voted to revisit the issue and hear public comment on Monday, May 4th.

This is a pivotal moment. Decisions made in the coming days will shape air quality, water resources, and public health across Utah for decades. Projects of this scale don’t just stay in Box Elder County; their impacts ripple statewide, affecting everything from energy demand to pollution burdens in our communities. The pollution from this hyper-scale data center will be inhaled throughout the Wasatch Front.

Now is the time to speak up. Call your state legislators and reach out to Governor Spencer Cox to make it clear that Utahns expect responsible, health-protective decision-making, not rushed approvals and handouts to billionaires. If you have friends or family in Box Elder County, urge them to continuously call and email their County Commission and show up on May 4th. Local voices carry real weight right now.

More information and public hearing details.