Pawlenty: The science is ‘bad’ when it comes to global warming

Before going off to the Council on Foreign Relations to give a speech on foreign policy, former Minnesota governor and 2012 GOP presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty appeared on Fox & Friends Tuesday morning. Asked about his stance on cap and trade, he acknowledged that he had changed his mind. He added, “I denounced it for a variety of reasons, one of which is the science is bad and it’s in great dispute,” repeating once more that there is a “scientific dispute” about the issue of climate change.

Klobuchar, Peterson break with Dems to vote against EPA

Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Rep. Collin Peterson are two Minnesota Democrats who broke with their party on restrictions to the Environmental Protection Agency in its monitoring and enforcement of greenhouse gases. Klobuchar’s votes were criticized by environmental groups while at least one conservative took her to task for not supporting strong enough restrictions. During the budget showdown, Peterson played an important role in a controversial measure to prevent the EPA from monitoring greenhouse gases.

Minnesota Reps. taking heat for moves to block EPA

Environmental groups are going after Minnesota members of Congress who have voted to block the EPA from regulating greenhouse gas pollution. A recent poll shows that votes by Republican Reps. Michele Bachmann and Chip Cravaack aren’t popular in their districts, and Rep. Collin Peterson, a Democrat, is getting attacked from both sides — the GOP says his stance against EPA regulation is “wishy washy,” while interest groups say he’s siding with foreign oil producers.

GOP’s Beard wants more coal plants because God will fix global warming

Rep. Mike Beard (R-Shakopee) is pushing for more new coal-fired power plants in Minnesota, but the Shakopee Republican is undeterred by reports about the effects of carbon-emitting energy production on global warming. His reason: He believes God will prevent the planet from running out of fossil fuels while also eliminating the harms associated with climate change. While Beard speaks from his religious tradition, many others in Minnesota’s faith communities believe it’s dangerous to wait for divine intervention to solve our environmental problems — and they say it’s the duty of people of faith to preserve the planet for future generations.

Franken backs nuclear power as Legislature mulls more plants

Sen. Al Franken told the Rochester Post-Bulletin that he has changed his mind on nuclear power due to a conversation with former Vice President Al Gore. Nuclear power has become a hot topic in Minnesota politics as legislators, mainly Republicans, look to lift the ban on new nuclear power plant construction. That plan has already passed one committee in the Minnesota House.

EdWatch, group that helped launch Bachmann’s career, closes after 12 years

Edwatch, a controversial conservative education watchdog group, announced that its operations will close at the end of the year. Founded as the Maple River Education Coalition in the late 1990s, the group was an incubator for the political career of Rep. Michele Bachmann and drew the ire of elected officials in at least three political parties. The group was pro-gun, anti-homosexuality and opposed to federal intervention in local education.

China to institute cap-and-trade system

The same day that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., announced that he did not have the votes to pass a cap-and-trade bill, even a scaled-down utility-only version, news broke that China has decided to institute its own cap-and-trade…

Only one GOP gubernatorial candidate believes global warming is real

No Republican contenders in the 2010 gubernatorial contest — except environmental activist Leslie Davis — believe in global warming, according to a report from Minnesota Public Radio. Perhaps most strident is state Sen. Mike Jungbauer (East Bethel), who told…

Bachmann wants Minnesotans ‘armed and dangerous’ against Obama energy policy

During a radio show on Saturday, Rep. Michele Bachmann described herself as a “foreign correspondent on enemy lines” in Washington, D.C. The Republican congresswoman went on to tell WWTC-AM:

I want people in Minnesota armed and dangerous on this

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On global warming, Pawlenty the McCain surrogate distances himself from Pawlenty the governor

Gov. Tim Pawlenty has been known for his break with the Republican Party on the issue of global warming. He’s said that the burning of fossil fuels is behind the increases in global temperature and has advocated various strategies to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and to use “cap and trade” strategies to reduce emissions.

But as a surrogate for Sen. John McCain, Pawlenty these days is crooning lullabies to the party’s base of (mostly religious) global warming doubters.