Published: April 25, 2009 09:28 pm      

Op-Ed: Alternative energy as photo op

The way politicians marked Earth Day last week was a far cry from when the annual celebration was started 39 years ago. These days, building turbines gets more hype than planting trees.

President Barack Obama flew out to Iowa (the presidential fleet of Air Force One and support/press planes left quite a carbon footprint) to visit a turbine plant and declare that wind generation is a "win-win" part of his alternative energy plan.

In Manistee, Gov. Jennifer Granholm touted the state-aided $4 million Windspire manufacturing facility that she said will create up to 140 jobs and "is in keeping with Michigan's plan to grow the renewable energy sector, create jobs and reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil in the process."

In both cases, Obama and Granholm were at sites in the shadow of facilities they replaced -- a Maytag Corp. appliances plant in Iowa, and in Manistee, site of a partnership between Nevada-based Mariah Power and Michigan-based MasTech that puts an under-used auto plant to work as a factory for the Windspire, a wind-power system for homes and businesses.

Granholm said: "Demand for wind-energy products will continue to grow as federal initiatives to reduce our nation's dependence on foreign oil advance. The Windspire, manufactured by Michigan workers using Michigan materials, will help Americans rely on energy made, literally, in our own backyards."

Obama said, "The nation that leads the world in creating new sources of clean energy will be the nation that leads the 21st century global economy."

More to the point in current debate in the nation he now leads, Obama said: "The choice we face is not between saving our environment and saving our economy -- it's a choice between prosperity and decline."

That's also a theme sounded on last week on the Michigan gubernatorial campaign trail by Ann Arbor businessman Rick Snyder, who last week made stops in the Upper Peninsula and the northern lower. He's expected in about two months to formally announce for the GOP nomination.

In Traverse City, Snyder -- who calls himself "a good green Republican" -- said, "The environment and quality of life are critical elements to having a vibrant economy."

Rick who? Tom who?

In early jockeying for 2010 nominations to replace term-limited Granholm, media attention has been focused on Lt. Gov. John Cherry, clear frontrunner for the Democratic nomination, and on most prominent Republican contenders: Attorney General Mike Cox, Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land and U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, former chairman and now ranking Republican of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

Hoekstra was a national media figure last week, as he wrote in the Wall Street Journal and emphasized in interviews he supported the current CIA director, and four former chiefs, who said the Obama administration declassifying of memos on "enhanced interrogation" of suspected terrorists "will make it more difficult for the CIA to defend the nation."

Hoekstra is correct on this issue, has been a wise voice on security matters and has a business background and a populist campaign touch that will help his gubernatorial run.

Meanwhile, two currently obscure Republican contenders, both from southern Michigan, have targeted northern Michigan for their initial campaign travels. Both are leaders in areas that could be issues in the gubernatorial campaign

Rick Snyder, a successful venture capitalist after running the Gateway computer company, is a leader in Ann Arbor economic development efforts and was the first chairman of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. He calls the economy "Issue 1, Issue 2 and Issue 3."

Health care is among issues that will be raised by Republican Sen. Tom George, a former state representative and an anesthesiologist who has long practiced in the Kalamazoo area. He is former medical director for Hospice of Greater Kalamazoo Area.

While his announcement of forming an exploratory committee emphasized the need to "fix" the Michigan economy, he said Friday: "We are an unhealthy people -- that's a huge drag on the economy."

His latest plans on the GOP nomination trail include visits to Traverse City, Charlevoix, Elk Rapids, Cheboygan and the Upper Peninsula.

Unusual Troika

The Three Amigos they are not. Ex-Govs. John Engler, Jim Blanchard and Bill Milliken had a joint commentary last week in the Detroit Free Press calling for "expand­ing Michigan's nuclear energy capacity."

The three have been advocates of nuclear energy, which "produces virtually no air pollutants (and) accounts for more than 87 percent of all carbon-free electricity generated in the state each year."

But I was curious about how the statement evolved, since Engler, whose name appeared first on the commentary, does not have chummy relations with fellow Republican Milliken and Democrat Blanchard, who was defeated by Engler in 1990.

Turns out the project was orchestrated by Paula Blanchard Stone, ex-wife of the ex-governor and president of Lansing-based The Paula Blanchard Companies, a public relations firm that has among its clients the Washington-based Clean and Safe Energy Coalition.

Reached Saturday about her PR coup, she said "all three" made it a pleasant project.

George Weeks retired in 2006 after 22 years as political columnist for The Detroit News. His weekly Michigan Politics column is syndicated by Superior Features.