Meet the man fueling clean energy opposition in the Midwest
heated.world
Kevon Martis and a group of fossil fuel-funded allies have led a decades-long campaign to sow fear and misinformation about renewable energy. It’s working.
This story is unsettling on a number of fronts: 1) Martis is going (pardon the metaphor) scorched earth in a personal crusade against renewable energy based on a decade-old grudge, 2) he and his cronies are succeeding with disinformation and bullying tactics, and last but certainly least, 3) he uses hashtags in e-mails for no apparent reason.
Martis' campaigns, along with others in Michigan & elsewhere, is based on the "new politics" of misinformation, fear & intimidation rather than rationality & reason. We all know the source of this; the key is to find a way to keep it from overtaking our local communities. And that's no small order - all it takes is a half dozen people to get themselves worked up to a frenzy based on utter nonsense, and you have a county council meeting that grabs headlines. Next meeting you have a hundred or more screaming citizens demanding that the commission pass local ordinances that are nothing short of idiotic.
And then a local advocacy group gets real busy with the political process and gets enough members elected that they take over the council and start governing on the foundation of all this garbage. That's what's happening now in Ottawa County, MI, and it is a sight to behold. So far they're still fighting the lockdown rules from the pandemic and efforts toward diversity and fairness, but I'm certain it won't be long until they "take a stand" against renewables.
"Righteous indignation" is a drug, it is more addictive than Fentanyl, and the nation is gobbling it up in record numbers.
A quick search of this guy Kevon corroborates your story. The comments on his LinkedIn are commiserate with Hodge’s observations.
It’s what they do. They open social media profiles, plant conspiratorial seeds, and sit back and watch the misinformation grow! They barely have to pay attention to it! This is just so awful! If you can, read the comments.
P.S. nearly half of my energy comes from renewals and by the end of the decade my municipality hopes to be 100% renewable. It can and will be done in spite of greedy oilmen like this.
Thank you for covering this. I’m astounded that one man’s petty entitlement could lead to such bad-faith obstruction of clean energy. Doesn’t he have kids? What about their future? Greed and narcissism will be our doom. I’m grateful for advocates who continue to fight. And also glad I got off Facebook. It’s pure evil.
It's really a shame that the deployment of clean energy is entering the culture war. It's cheaper, cleaner, and creates more jobs at home. It should be a non partisan issue. But here we are
What makes me sad is that these communities are being convinced to shoot themselves in the foot. Many rural areas are already having economic problems, loosing young people, school funding, hospitals closing. Wind and solar represent economic opportunity for these places, they've been harvesting food for generations and can now harvest electricity, and they're throwing it away.
What frustrates me is that many places that have turned away wind and solar will probably be begging for help from the government with financial problems in years to come, that is, more than they're already getting. It's a little comical, from grid electricity to roads, postal service, and soon broadband internet, much of the high cost of servicing rural America is already socialized across the population.
Unfortunately, many rural folks in Michigan get much of their "information" from attending their local houses of worship. Drive through any rural community in this state and you'll soon notice that there are more churches than there are eating or drinking establishments. Srsly! All it takes to mobilize a mob here is to spread the word through the pastors (mostly old, white guys). You'll get more foaming-at-the-mouth hordes than you need at any public meeting. Yet another reason why I strongly advocate doing away with tax exemptions for "churches."
What a disheartening story. Why is it that the liars and disinformation advocates always seem so successful in spreading their mendacity while the truth gets buried? Obviously, this is true with respect to climate/environmental stories, but it is equally true with respect to Covid, vaccines, etc.
We are a remarkably shortsighted, ill-informed people............
I’m sure he’s influenced some of the proposed legislation in Iowa. The newest one would allow adjacent land owners to veto commercial Solar projects and requires a 1,000 foot setback from a residence. That’s going to discourage a lot of commercial Solar development in the state
No thanks to Michigan's own Michael Moore who mainstreamed a lot of this disinformation in "Planet of the Humans." I think some of the big climate orgs and funders need to fund much more pro-renewables PR, including TV ads. Though many enviros and progressives are reluctant supporters to say the least.
In Texas, no one can go to the zoning board to stop wind and solar farms. They were declared use-by-right, same as O&G, on ag land a dozen years ago when Texas reformed its electricity markets.
The descriptions of these meetings bring to mind similar scenes playing out in school board meetings across the nation. Same fear tactics, same animosity, same threats - stated or nonverbally suggested. I'll be shocked if this doesn't go even deeper still to the same right-wing, we-want-to-control-everything-you-do-and-say groups.
This story is unsettling on a number of fronts: 1) Martis is going (pardon the metaphor) scorched earth in a personal crusade against renewable energy based on a decade-old grudge, 2) he and his cronies are succeeding with disinformation and bullying tactics, and last but certainly least, 3) he uses hashtags in e-mails for no apparent reason.
Martis' campaigns, along with others in Michigan & elsewhere, is based on the "new politics" of misinformation, fear & intimidation rather than rationality & reason. We all know the source of this; the key is to find a way to keep it from overtaking our local communities. And that's no small order - all it takes is a half dozen people to get themselves worked up to a frenzy based on utter nonsense, and you have a county council meeting that grabs headlines. Next meeting you have a hundred or more screaming citizens demanding that the commission pass local ordinances that are nothing short of idiotic.
And then a local advocacy group gets real busy with the political process and gets enough members elected that they take over the council and start governing on the foundation of all this garbage. That's what's happening now in Ottawa County, MI, and it is a sight to behold. So far they're still fighting the lockdown rules from the pandemic and efforts toward diversity and fairness, but I'm certain it won't be long until they "take a stand" against renewables.
"Righteous indignation" is a drug, it is more addictive than Fentanyl, and the nation is gobbling it up in record numbers.
A quick search of this guy Kevon corroborates your story. The comments on his LinkedIn are commiserate with Hodge’s observations.
It’s what they do. They open social media profiles, plant conspiratorial seeds, and sit back and watch the misinformation grow! They barely have to pay attention to it! This is just so awful! If you can, read the comments.
P.S. nearly half of my energy comes from renewals and by the end of the decade my municipality hopes to be 100% renewable. It can and will be done in spite of greedy oilmen like this.
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/kevon-martis-88345054_kevon-martis-frackings-champion-activity-6886320139432718336-BGfn
The ignorance and fascist tendencies in this country are astounding.
Thank you for covering this. I’m astounded that one man’s petty entitlement could lead to such bad-faith obstruction of clean energy. Doesn’t he have kids? What about their future? Greed and narcissism will be our doom. I’m grateful for advocates who continue to fight. And also glad I got off Facebook. It’s pure evil.
It's really a shame that the deployment of clean energy is entering the culture war. It's cheaper, cleaner, and creates more jobs at home. It should be a non partisan issue. But here we are
What makes me sad is that these communities are being convinced to shoot themselves in the foot. Many rural areas are already having economic problems, loosing young people, school funding, hospitals closing. Wind and solar represent economic opportunity for these places, they've been harvesting food for generations and can now harvest electricity, and they're throwing it away.
What frustrates me is that many places that have turned away wind and solar will probably be begging for help from the government with financial problems in years to come, that is, more than they're already getting. It's a little comical, from grid electricity to roads, postal service, and soon broadband internet, much of the high cost of servicing rural America is already socialized across the population.
Unfortunately, many rural folks in Michigan get much of their "information" from attending their local houses of worship. Drive through any rural community in this state and you'll soon notice that there are more churches than there are eating or drinking establishments. Srsly! All it takes to mobilize a mob here is to spread the word through the pastors (mostly old, white guys). You'll get more foaming-at-the-mouth hordes than you need at any public meeting. Yet another reason why I strongly advocate doing away with tax exemptions for "churches."
What a disheartening story. Why is it that the liars and disinformation advocates always seem so successful in spreading their mendacity while the truth gets buried? Obviously, this is true with respect to climate/environmental stories, but it is equally true with respect to Covid, vaccines, etc.
We are a remarkably shortsighted, ill-informed people............
I’m sure he’s influenced some of the proposed legislation in Iowa. The newest one would allow adjacent land owners to veto commercial Solar projects and requires a 1,000 foot setback from a residence. That’s going to discourage a lot of commercial Solar development in the state
Thank you Emily, Michael.
No thanks to Michigan's own Michael Moore who mainstreamed a lot of this disinformation in "Planet of the Humans." I think some of the big climate orgs and funders need to fund much more pro-renewables PR, including TV ads. Though many enviros and progressives are reluctant supporters to say the least.
Anyway, interesting contrast in the link below:
https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2023/02/09/watch-west-texas-community-comes-together-for-solar-project/
In Texas, no one can go to the zoning board to stop wind and solar farms. They were declared use-by-right, same as O&G, on ag land a dozen years ago when Texas reformed its electricity markets.
The descriptions of these meetings bring to mind similar scenes playing out in school board meetings across the nation. Same fear tactics, same animosity, same threats - stated or nonverbally suggested. I'll be shocked if this doesn't go even deeper still to the same right-wing, we-want-to-control-everything-you-do-and-say groups.