Environmentalist
Ozarkers for Responsible Energy
With his brother, Mike, Dan Chiles started a solar panel manufacturing company in 1981 and built it into a diversified fabricator of equipment for rain water collection, heat exchange, radiant heating and energy recovery over the next 35 years.
He is a founding member of Ozarkers for Responsible Energy (nuclear energy opponents) and the Ozarks New Energy Conference. Chiles is a lifetime member of the Sierra Club and served as board member and chairperson of the Watershed Committee of the Ozarks. He was elected to the Springfield City Council and served as mayor pro tem with a focus on neighborhoods, sustainability and environmental planning. He is also the founder of Springbike, a local bicycling and advocacy organization.
Chiles serves as chairperson of Renew Missouri Advocates, a statewide organization responsible for Missouri’s PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) law, the statewide renewable energy portfolio and Missouri’s current solar net metering regulations. He is a principal in the Sac River Revenant, an ongoing project to restore riparian corridors along the beautiful spring-fed Sac River (a major source for Springfield’s drinking water). Chiles earned his bachelor's degree in general studies from Harvard University.