SAWU leader Chris Aichholz shreds his critics: “It just strengthens my drive!”

TIFFIN, OH — In a recent Facebook post, the leader of a controversial local group that is opposed to wind turbine projects in the area is speaking out against his critics.

Chris Aichholz, one of the “leaders” of the SAWU group, posted a variety of screenshots including messenger conversations and public Facebook posts. Aichholz said, “Just thought I’d share just a small sampling of some of the stuff I get to deal with regularly. It’s a real shame people have to result to this behavior but I am not surprised.”

One man messaged Aichholz “your [sic] f**king stupid you god d**n piece of s**t, dumba** motherf**ker.” Another man posted publicly on Facebook that he believed Aichholz was “only in it for the cheeseburgers.”

Aichholz also included screenshots of TiffinOhio.net articles criticizing and analyzing the controversial group.

“If they think these type of antics will scare me away they are sadly mistaken it just strengthens my drive!,” Aichholz continued.

Scott Peterson, the founder of investigative watchdog group Checks and Balances, says the primary person behind the anti-wind propaganda campaign, who he accuses of “provoking angst and fear” in Seneca County, is Chris Aichholz.

Timeline: Aichholz’s propaganda dissemination

The primary messenger of the propaganda campaign was Chris Aichholz, a leader of the Seneca Anti-Wind Union.

• May 16: Aichholz sends the Seneca County commissioners a letter to the editor of the News-Sentinel in Fort Wayne, Indiana, from Jeremy Kitson of Citizens for Clear Skies, from Van Wert County, Ohio. Kitson writes: “I haven’t even touched on the false narrative perpetuated by the wind industry and how it’s saving the Earth. I have plenty of science that proves that is plainly false.”
• May 17: Aichholz emails the commissioners a Forbes article, If Renewables Are So Great for the Environment, Why Do They Keep Destroying It? The article was written by Michael Shellenberger, a pro-nuclear activist who once represented the administration of then-Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez.
• May 23: Aichholz forwards to the commissioners a “study” titled The True Cost of Energy: Wind by Randy Simmons and Ryan Yonk of Strata, an organization funded by Koch Industries. Simmon’s ties to the Kochs were subsequently examined by the Washington Post. In 2015, Checks and Balances Project talked with Simmons and he admitted his funding.
• March 23: Aichholz emails a post by National Wind Watch, another national anti-wind group. Tom Stacy, a board member since 2010, has ties to the Heartland Institute, the fossil fuel-funded think tank behind controversial attacks on climate science and renewable energy policies.
• June 9: Aichholz forwards an article from the Center of American Experiment, a Minnesota-based “think tank” whose director of operations has written, “Increasing CO2 in the atmosphere ’greens’ the planet and helps feed the growing human population.”
• June 18: Aichholz sends a blog post from Master Resource, a “free market” forum. Its principals are primarily from the fossil fuel industry.