Its chairman? Kasich for Ohio state director and former Columbus Chamber of Commerce lobbyist and former Kasich staffer Michael Hartley.
Its "state energy director"? Former Kasich office and campaign intern Tyler Duvelius.
Their "regulatory affairs, public policy, federal and state politics, and grassroots organization advisor? Kasich appointee and campaigner Mike Gonidakis.
Who's Terry McClure? Just the president of Northwest Ohio Wind LLC, a company that directly benefits from green-energy power mandates. And a Kasich campaigner.
Tom Moe? Another Kasich state appointee and ex-campaign surrogate.
Now, why is Team Kasich opposing the green-energy freeze recommendation?
http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/blog/ohio-energy-inc/2015/09/kasich-ohios-renewable-energy-freeze-is.html
“A continued freeze of Ohio’s energy standards is unacceptable and we stand willing to work with the Ohio General Assembly to craft a bill that supports a diverse mix of reliable, low-cost energy sources while preserving the gains we have made in the state’s economy,” Kasich spokesman Joe Andrews said in an email.
http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/blog/2014/05/renewables-freeze-baffles-opponents-but-backers.html
“Ohio needs more renewable and alternative-energy sources and it needs a strong system to support them as they get started,” Kasich spokesman Rob Nichols said in an email.
The website, http://www.ohcef.org/, is registered to Steiner Public Relations, owned by Ohio GOP PR guy and Kasich backer Curt Steiner.
Lots of things bother me about this.
First of all, the "all of the above" approach wasn't designed to be employed as a way to save "green" energy. It was thought of as a way to protect the coal, natural gas and oil industries FROM the green lobby.
Second, the name of the organization implies that in order to be "conservative" you have to agree with John Kasich's position on energy. I don't. But I'm FAR more conservative than he is on a good many issues, including this one.
Lastly, why not just be honest with people. This is a Team Kasich front. If Preacher John wanted to make this an issue, why doesn't he just come out and say so? We all know that the Speaker (and his three "unnamed" state representatives who vetoed me) will fall right in line with whatever he wants, so let's just skip the cloak and dagger and get on with it already.
