ST. PAUL -- Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty is a keynote speaker for an upcoming national energy conference.
The Power Gen conference is Tuesday through Saturday in Las Vegas, bringing together people involved in the renewable energy industry.
Pawlenty shares top building with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
Conference sponsors note that Pawlenty worked to double the state's ethanol usage and to improve use of other renewable fuels.
Sen. Keith Langseth, DFL-Glyndon, wasted no time this legislative session demanding that Gov. Tim Pawlenty come clean.
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One of Langseth's big complaints in recent years is that Republican Pawlenty often will tell a group that he likes its public works project proposal, but then not include it in his own funding plans.
So on Tuesday, as the Legislature began its 2008 run, Langseth sent Pawlenty a letter demanding to know whether the governor supports projects such as a Bemidji hockey arena. Langseth said he understands Pawlenty has told people he supports many projects like that one, but did not include it in the administration's public works bill.
Langseth is chairman of the Senate committee that funds public works projects.
Minnesota State Economist Tom Stinson was explaining to an agriculture group the other day the importance of education and of Minnesota keeping graduates in the state.
"It's got to be harder for 3M to recruit somebody off a beach in San Diego than the U of M campus," he said.
Stinson splits his time between the state job and one at the University of Minnesota.
Rep. Sandy Wollschlager, DFL-Cannon Falls, read a poem as House members on Valentine's Day approved a constitutional amendment to raise the sales tax for outdoors and arts programs:
"Roses are red,
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"Violets are blue,
"We've got bike trails, rivers and canoes, too.
"A great place to live, work and play
"Stop by for a lifetime
"Or a day."
State Rep. Dave Dill lightened the mood during a Minnesota House committee debate over a plan to toughen the state's motor vehicle emissions standards.
The Democrat from Crane Lake in far northern Minnesota joked that canoeists in the Boundary Waters might emit more greenhouse gases than do big trucks.
But, he added, "I'm not sure which end it comes out of."
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State Capitol reporter Scott Wente contributed to this report.
