The Fairmont Sentinel, arguably one of the more conservative newspapers in the state, doesn't put much of its content online, and so we missed a shocking development in the editing of the Martin County newspaper.
Fortunately, one of our correspondents, a person known for his media savvy ways, alerts us to a startling development in Martin County media.
From the email:
A headline in today's Fairmont Sentinel was so shocking, I just had to write. In theory, this appearance ranks with the parting of the Red Sea.
On the front page appears: "Due to global warming: Spring keeps coming earlier".
Wow... It's almost as if the Sentinel is transforming into a metropolitan alternative weekly newspaper in front of our eyes.
We have not seen the print edition of the paper and so can not independently attest to the observation.
At least one of the contenders for the Republican nomination for the privilege of getting beat by Tim Walz has made global warming denial a cornerstone of his energy policy proposals. He's argued that no policy should be made based on concerns about global warming. We wait in breathless anticipation of the Martin County Republicans who reportedly favored this candidate in a recent straw poll to gather at the Sentinel's office with their pitchforks, torches and gas-guzzlers, demanding fair and balanced coverage.
Will they next move on to the residence of State Representative Bob Gunther, who recently endorsed his colleague Randy Demmer? The supposed favorite of Martin County's Republican throngs opposes renewable energy standards, which both Gunther and Demmer, along with nearly all of their state house colleagues of either party, quite sensibly voted for in the last session.
In fact, not a single state representative or senator of either party serving in the Minnesota legislature from the First Congressional District voted against the renewable energy standards legislation in 2007.
Any farmer can tell you that spring's been coming earlier -- and we've been getting less moisture overall, especially in winter. (March used to be our snowiest month, but the March snows have dropped off dramatically in the past decade, making January the snowiest month in Minnesota.) Minnesota was once Zone 2 and 3 for gardeners. Now only a few small portions of the north are even Zone 2b; most of the northern part of the state is Zone 3, and 3b at that, whereas the North Shore and the southern parts of the state are Zone 4, and I wouldn't be surprised to find that the warmest parts of the Twin Cities are Zone 5a.
Posted by: Phoenix Woma | March 21, 2008 at 09:03 PM