Gov Stitt's State Board of Ed Appointee VanDenhende: Good for Education or Tie to Green New Denmark Deal?
Senate Confirmation for Chris VanDenhende Set for Thursday
Tomorrow, the Oklahoma Senate is scheduled to consider the nomination of Chris VanDenhende to the Oklahoma State Board of Education. VanDenhende was one of three (3) appointees announced in February as Governor Kevin Stitt (R) upended the board amid a backroom ultimatum and an ongoing conflict with State Superintendent Ryan Walters (R) over education, immigration and energy policy.
See previous reporting:
OK Gov Stitt Gives Backroom Ultimatum: Team Stitt or Team Walters/Trump
·Just a few short years ago, if arrows were flying from Oklahoma’s deep state, both Governor Kevin Stitt (R) and now State Superintendent Ryan Walters (R) were likely the targets. During Stitt’s first term, with Walters as his appointed Secretary of Education, the two were positioned as the Lone Ranger and Tonto combination seeking to return control of t…
VanDenhende also served as a Stitt appointee on the Board of Regents for the Regional University System of Oklahoma (RUSO), but with no experience in PK-12 public education, his current nomination is a bit of a mystery.
VanDenhende’s potential business connections to Stitt’s recent and unusual interest in green energy suggest his appointment may be more advantageous for political insiders than for public school children.
VanDenhende is in the jet engine and jet fuel systems industries. He is currently CFO/COO/CSO at Mint Turbines LLC and CFO of Southwest Fuel Systems, both located in Stroud, OK. Mint Turbines services jet engines largely under sole source contracts with the US military. Southwest Fuel Systems specializes in Honeywell products and aviation fuel systems.
Both entities list Airborne Engines and International Aerospace & Defense as affiliate companies.
Gov Stitt’s Denmark Energy MOU Pulls Oklahoma Into Sustainable Aviation Fuel Industry
In a bizarre move for the highest office holder in an oil and gas state, on December 2nd, 2024, Governor Stitt signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the State of Oklahoma and the Embassy of Denmark involving renewable energy, biomedical, aerospace and defense projects.
Comments from Oklahomans in reaction to Stitt’s post announcing the MOU were overwhelmingly critical and skeptical concerning his intentions (link to read comments).
The MOU move is confusing until Stitt’s extensive involvement with the National Governor’s Association (NGA) is layered into the thinking mix. Just week’s after Stitt’s initial inauguration in January of 2019, the NGA hosted a Global Energy Solutions Summit in “collaboration with the Embassy of Denmark, Embassy of Canada and Embassy of Australia”.
The NGA is where conservative governors go to be steeped in unwanted, global policy and practices on a variety of topics including energy and education. This particular summit purported to “help states gather ideas from countries that are leading in the deployment of emerging energy technologies of offshore wind, energy storage, and carbon capture, utilization and storage”, even if that state happens to have unlimited oil and gas resources.
Stitt is now Vice Chair of the NGA, alongside progressive Colorado Governor Jared Polis (D). The NGA promotes all observably losing players and policies to US governors by coordinated events like a virtual visit with Ukraine’s Zelenskyy to pledge more weapons support or a lecture on education from lockdown queen Randi Weingarten of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT).
Word Clues from Stitt’s Denmark MOU Hint at Oklahoma’s Unwanted, Sustainable Aviation Fuel Future: Pyrolysis, eSAF & Second MOU on Wind Energy
Specifically mentioned within the Stitt-Denmark MOU’s proposed energy production and innovation collaborations were the areas of biogas, electrolysis, pyrolysis, and eSAF.
Instead of using Oklahoma’s nearly endless supply of natural gas, biogas is an energy source made by breaking down organic matter by anaerobic bacteria. Electrolysis, another green energy process, splits water into hydrogen and oxygen using electricity from renewable sources.
Pyrolysis, also specifically mentioned in the Denmark MOU, involves the use of heat and the absence of oxygen to break down organic material to produce sustainable liquid fuels such as aviation fuel.
Honeywell, a close partner to VanDenhende’s Southwest Fuel Systems has been in the pyrolysis business for some time, first involving recycling and now within the field of eSAF.
Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is a key part of the growing push to decarbonize aviation. Going a step further, eSAF is a synthetic aviation fuel made from renewable energy sources such as wind power that can therefore claim to be a very low-carbon alternative.
It will take a great deal of renewable energy, like wind power, to make the plans Stitt is force-feeding Oklahomans a reality. On the same day as his MOU with Denmark, Stitt signed a second, highly controversial MOU with EE North America, a subsidiary of the Danish company European Energy A/S, that builds wind and solar farms.
It appears wind power will be expanded in Oklahoma, whether Oklahomans like it or not, and perhaps used to create synthetic aviation fuel, which Oklahomans don’t want. VanDenhende happens to be Oklahoma’s aviation fuel systems entrepreneur.
In December, Supt Walters promptly released a statement condemning both MOUs. Since then, the attacks against the State Board of Education’s processes have become an all-out assault on the board itself.
Illinois’ Gov Pritzker is Step Ahead of Stitt’s Plans for Oklahoma: SAFs Over Oil & Gas
In December of 2024, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker (D), also an active participant in the NGA, announced an agreement for Avina Clean Hydrogen to build its $820 million “sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) project” in Southwest Illinois. According to Pritzker, “Avina Clean Hydrogen’s new SAF production facility will support our ambitious goals for a clean energy economy by substantially reducing carbon emissions and creating new jobs for Southwest Illinois.”
Pritzker also apparently attended the NGA’s behind the scenes workshop on MOUs. Last month, he signed an agreement with the UK “which focuses on advancing manufacturing in the energy, technology and life sciences sectors” and reinforces diversity by highlighting a “joint commitment to bolstering equitable economic opportunities and innovation among historically marginalized groups including women, communities of color, and the LGBTQ+ community”.
In the minds of governors highly influenced by the NGA, their states have become independent countries whose citizens have no say about policy. It appears the NGA has dragged Stitt far from the will, wishes and best interests of Oklahomans.
And now Chris VanDenhende has been selected to make education policy decisions for Oklahoma families. Is this political backscratching related to VanDenhende’s business interests? Minutes after being sworn in, new board member VanDenhende moved to halt all board discussions about the impact of illegal immigration on Oklahoma’s public schools starting a lengthy discussion about who controls the board’s agenda. State law and the State Constitution give that power to the elected State Superintendent of Public Instruction.
By March, VanDenhende’s words were reflected in a shady legislative attempt by House Speaker Kyle Hilbert (R-Bristow) to give Stitt’s new appointees control of the State Board of Education’s agenda through a full bill substitution (HB1491).
More recently, House leadership tried again with another rules suspension and full bill replacement (SB646) that, if passed, would’ve expanded the State Board of Education and taken control of its agenda away from its only elected member. Republican House members have been publicly critical of Hilbert’s tactics.
Will VanDenhende profit in the future from Stitt’s Green New Denmark Deal? Unfortunately, only time will tell.
If something smells rotten in Denmark, readers may want to contact their State Senator prior to tomorrow’s confirmation vote.
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