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MOUNT VERNON — As a follow-up to Knox Smart Development’s Nov. 30 presentation, several readers asked the newsroom this question —who is funding Knox Smart Development?
Knox Smart Development is a group advocating for the removal of the planned solar farm project in Miller and Clinton townships, member Jared Yost said.
Several residents expressed concerns that Knox Smart Development is funded by the pro-natural gas think tank The Empowerment Alliance, Ariel Corporation, or any other corporate interests.
Yost says no.
“Nor are we a front group for anyone other than the concerned citizens that simply do not want to turn our green farmland into endless miles of solar panels,” he said.
Yost said Knox Smart Development tapped into publicly available information on The Empowerment Alliance’s website and its expertise.
According to Yost, the Open Road Renewables Miller and Clinton township solar project is a battle of David vs. Goliath.
Research by the Energy and Policy Institute, an energy and utility watchdog group, has linked the pro-natural gas institute The Empowerment Alliance to the natural gas industry, according to an article published by the Ohio Capital Journal.
The article also cites The Empowerment Alliance’s highest-paid contractor for the past four years has been a group called Majority Strategies. Its chief strategist, Tom Whatman, spoke at the Nov. 30 event.
The article also cites that Dave Anderson, the institute’s policy and communications director, found a National Review Ideas Summit program guide that characterized The Empowerment Alliance as a project of Karen Wright and her husband Tom Rastin.
Wright is board chair of Ariel Corporation, a maker of natural gas compressors.
At the Nov. 30 event, Executive Director of the Climate Science Coalition of America Steve Goreham cited numerous pitfalls of solar power compared to other forms of energy.
According to several township trustees across Knox County, Wright mailed Goreham’s book “Green Breakdown: The Coming Renewable Energy Failure” to township fiscal officers and trustees.
As stated at the Nov. 30 event, Yost said some of Knox Smart Development’s donors want to remain anonymous.
Yost confirmed Knox Smart Development isn’t receiving funding from Wright, nor has the group solicited her for funding.
This independent, local reporting provided by our Report for America Corps members is brought to you in part by the generous support of the Knox County Foundation and Kokosing.