Tim Pawlenty sacrificed integrity -- his and ours | StarTribune.com

candidate Pawlenty embarrassed himself before the entire nation by turning his back on one of his most significant accomplishments.

As governor, he saw the ominous clouds of climate change as the economic opportunity they represent, and was a strong supporter of renewable-energy standards that helped make Minnesota a leader in using our abundant nonpolluting energy resources.

But as candidate for the Republican nomination for president, he shamefully recanted that position to fit right-wing talking points that the science is uncertain, while he knows the opposite is true -- the science has only grown more certain since he first became governor.

What a missed opportunity. What if instead he had stood firmly facing the whirlwind of climate-change denial and had spoken the truth -- that the winds of change are blowing and that the nation needs to embrace them.

That every reputable scientific organization in the world, from the National Academy of Sciences and the National Research Council to George W. Bush's scientific advisory committee, have all affirmed what the science of climate is telling us: Human activities are changing the climate in already alarming ways.
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Jim Lenfestey is a former Star Tribune editorial writer.

Let’s Put the Huntsman Campaign Out of Its Misery | Power Line

If Huntsman really does not know that global warming alarmism is at best a hotly debated theory, he has no business trying to participate in public life.

Beckmann: Time idle Ann Arbor treehuggers got serious about saving the planet | themichiganview.com | The Michigan View

What a tough time it's been lately for the environmental activist crowd.

First, taxpayers took a hit when Fisher Coachworks of Flint — they were going to make electric buses — went under, taking millions of federal and state subsidy dollars into bankruptcy with it, and failing to fulfill ex-Gov. Jennifer Granholm's promise that it would be part of the "new energy economy in Michigan."

Then, Evergreen Solar, with operations in Midland, went bankrupt. Evergreen was supposed to be "leading the green industrial revolution," Granholm promised. Alas, now Evergreen is ever-dark and more American taxpayer stimulus dollars have been wasted.
Anti-idling ordinance

But the worst news for enviros had to come out of Ann Arbor where the City Council failed to adopt — for now — the recommendations of the city's Environmental Commission (yes, they really have one of those there) to adopt an ordinance that would turn city law officers into global warming police.

Ann Arbor is looking to join a select group of cities that are aiming to save the planet by threatening fines for those drivers who leave their cars idling longer than the environmental disciples deem safe for our planet.
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Environmentalists need to demand that Ann Arbor politicians show real leadership by extracting the municipality from the grid that is killing the planet, and produce its own electricity from solar, wind and hydro.