45 Comments - Just Me - Wednesday, Jul 31, 13 @ 11:07 am: It is just like House Dem candidates running on social security. The voters don’t think it through that far. - Fred - Wednesday, Jul 31, 13 @ 11:12 am: Good issue to get the attention of liberal activist types. Best I can tell, he’s outworking any candidate for any statewide office so far. - Chavez-respecting Obamist - Wednesday, Jul 31, 13 @ 11:13 am: It’s Mandarin, not Mandrin. - Rich Miller - Wednesday, Jul 31, 13 @ 11:16 am: ===It’s Mandarin, not Mandrin. === You may know how to spell it, but he can speak it. lol Just sayin… - The Captain - Wednesday, Jul 31, 13 @ 11:19 am: The Treasurer’s office used to offer low interest loan programs for energy efficiency projects but Rutherford eliminated them. Just so we’re clear the state was not on the hook in the event of a default, the bank that originated the loan was, the state would just offer that bank state deposits in an amount equal to the amount sought by the borrower and use those funds to lower the interest rate to the borrower. So those projects only came to the state after a bank agreed there was a strong business case and the bank agreed to take on all of the risk in the event of a default. The Treasurer’s office has long provided these same low interest loan programs to farmers. There are two programs, one that helps farmers with annual operating costs and another one for long term equipment purchases. Both programs work the same as the energy efficiency program outlined above. It’s smart to campaign for the Treasurer’s office on environment and agriculture, both have (or have had) low interest loan programs and you can campaign on restoring something that was taken away by Rutherford. - crypto - Wednesday, Jul 31, 13 @ 11:24 am: Good luck with “climate change” agenda. Coldest July in about 100 years. I’m sure climate change caused the cold too, because all events in the weather are now deemed to be caused by man. Just left wing junk science. - Bill White - Wednesday, Jul 31, 13 @ 11:26 am: @The Captain Thanks! This link appears to explain the program http://www.centralillinois.org/node/373 - wordslinger - Wednesday, Jul 31, 13 @ 11:55 am: –Good luck with “climate change” agenda. Coldest July in about 100 years– I’ll tell ComEd that when my A/C bill comes. It was in the high 80s and 90s most of the month until a few days ago. Seriously, dude, were you in a coma two weeks ago? You know what’s not junk science? Pavlov’s Theory of Conditioning. Say “climate change” and you get an automatic response in some circles. - downstate lib - Wednesday, Jul 31, 13 @ 11:58 am: And I suppose that nighttime disproves the existence of the sun, too? - Chicago Cynic - Wednesday, Jul 31, 13 @ 12:02 pm: Hottest decade in all of recorded history for planet Earth is the most recent one. Yea, left-wing junk science supported by 98% of climate scientists. Bunch of commies. As for Mike, he’s been a leader for renewable energy and the environment in the GA, along with Don Harmon. It’s not surprising he’s taking up this issue as it does have broad implications for Illinois. - Keyser Soze - Wednesday, Jul 31, 13 @ 12:05 pm: Jim Angel said that? Jeeze, whatever happened to the scientific method? It doesn’t allow for supposition or educated guesswork. - Rich Miller - Wednesday, Jul 31, 13 @ 12:05 pm: ===It’s Mandarin, not Mandrin. === A staffer just copped to the misspelling. - wordslinger - Wednesday, Jul 31, 13 @ 12:09 pm: ===It’s Mandarin, not Mandrin. === A staffer just copped to the misspelling.– Freudian slip? http://www.absolut.com/us/products/mandrin/description - Been There - Wednesday, Jul 31, 13 @ 12:12 pm: It would be a lot more fun on the campaign trail if everyone could practice more Mandrin. http://www.absolut.com/us/products/mandrin/description - Loop Lady - Wednesday, Jul 31, 13 @ 12:16 pm: crypto: one cold July does not a trend make… Ag is the biggest industry in IL, and if you think we’ll be growing ever increasing yields of soybeans and corn when the summers get hotter and hotter, think again…summers will be East Texas like here sooner than you think, and I don’t think they grow much corn in Texas… - Wumpus - Wednesday, Jul 31, 13 @ 12:21 pm: What is he going to do about the Emerald Ash Borers in my community? Stick to the real issues! - crypto - Wednesday, Jul 31, 13 @ 12:23 pm: New York Times just said recently climate scientists can’t explain a flatlining of temperatures last decade that don’t square with the models developed by leftists. In other words, the data is not squaring with the theory. In real science, that means the theory is wrong. In America where the news media is in cahoots with the left-wing politicians, we have to read this nonsense a little bit longer until the evidence completely obliterates the global warming scam. - wordslinger - Wednesday, Jul 31, 13 @ 12:28 pm: Crypto, can you tell us where you discovered that it was the coolest July in 100 years? - Will - Wednesday, Jul 31, 13 @ 12:30 pm: Alexi campaigned on the tax credit for electric and alternative fuel vehicles he pushed. He also had a green loan program that promoted clean energy and efficiency projects. So, there’s precedent for the issue being raised in the Treasurer race and it does relate to the office. - Loop Lady - Wednesday, Jul 31, 13 @ 12:39 pm: Modeling climate change by computer programs is almost imposible Crypto…too many variables…talk to a local land manager about what they’re encountering in their day to day activities…it doesn’t matter if you beleive it is happening…talk to anyone at the Scientific Surveys at UIUC and then posit your opine… - 47th Ward - Wednesday, Jul 31, 13 @ 12:45 pm: The difference between weather and climate is the difference between your family’s annual budget the federal government’s annual budget. They are related but not really. Drudge often confuses changes in weather for evidence against climate change. Hint: climate is weather over time (a long, long time). Year to year, even decade to decade weather patterns don’t tell you much about whether a climate is changing. Nobody ever went broke underestimating the stupidity of the American public. - Hatless - Wednesday, Jul 31, 13 @ 12:45 pm: “Keyser Soze - Jim Angel said that? Jeeze, whatever happened to the scientific method? It doesn’t allow for supposition or educated guesswork.” Just because you don’t agree with the results doesn’t mean that it wasn’t analyzed properly. I know and work with Jim; he takes his job seriously and would not support a view without a thorough vetting of the evidence. - Shore - Wednesday, Jul 31, 13 @ 12:51 pm: zzzzzzzzzzzzzz - crypto - Wednesday, Jul 31, 13 @ 1:08 pm: *Modeling climate change by computer programs is almost imposible Crypto…too many variables* Ugh, the entire global warming scare is built on computer models. - Chicago Cynic - Wednesday, Jul 31, 13 @ 1:18 pm: Please allow deniers like Crypto to believe whatever they’d like to believe. In the meantime, those on the ground such as the Inuit’s facing declining hunting grounds, or the polar bear habitat or the declining permafrost or the lake currently sitting on the North Pole, etc. etc. can continue to deal with the reality of a changing climate. Geez. Oh, and as for this little gem, ” In America where the news media is in cahoots with the left-wing politicians” The rest of the world take climate change as fact and cannot begin to fathom how the denier culture has taken hold here. So I guess Crypto, you’ll just have to continue to read about it from planet Earth, where on the ground observable facts apparently have a notorious liberal bias. - dave - Wednesday, Jul 31, 13 @ 1:21 pm: FWIW… - wordslinger - Wednesday, Jul 31, 13 @ 1:22 pm: Crypto, who’s behind this worldwide “left-wing” conspiracy of scientists, journalists and politicians and what are their objectives? It’s not Dr. Evil, is it? And where did you see that coolest July in 100 years thing, again? Even if that wasn’t something you just made up, what was it supposed to prove? - dave - Wednesday, Jul 31, 13 @ 1:23 pm: Lets try that again. FWIW…one’s environmental record may not have a direct impact on one’s role as treasurer, but it does tell me a decent amount about a candidate. Further, a down ballot slot is really just preparing someone to run for Governor or US Senate, right? So I would much rather have someone who agrees with my on environmental issues as treasurer, as there is a decent chance that person will run, and be better positioned, for a statewide office in the future for an elected office that would have more involvement on environmental issues. - LincolnLounger - Wednesday, Jul 31, 13 @ 2:14 pm: For those of us who have watched him all the way back to the days when he was running for township office, Mr. Frerichs brings a whole new level of ambition to the table. Don’t get me wrong — he’s smart, works hard, and is personable. Fare thee well, however, to anyone who dares get in the way of that that ego that is bigger than his hands. He reminds me a lot of Dick Durbin. Careful, centrist positions, absolutely everywhere working hard. When he gets freed up, his true “progressive” heart finally shine for the world to see, and the folks back home in east central IL will be amazed. Not a criticism, but Dems had better be careful about what they wish with this one. - Loop Lady - Wednesday, Jul 31, 13 @ 2:27 pm: Crypto: not true, climate data from the last hundred years is the basis for predictions of climate change, not computer programs…the programs are built on data and trends and cannot include all variables that might affect outcomes…done talking to you now…your mind is too closed… - Chicago Cynic - Wednesday, Jul 31, 13 @ 3:01 pm: LincolnLounger, Is that ambition a good or bad thing? Are you saying he’s far more lefty than he’s portrayed himself in Central IL? I would think cramming his 6′7″ body into a Prius would have been a clue at least as to his environmental interests years ago. Mind you, I know a lot of Republicans who are also enviros, so maybe that’s not a big clue. - so... - Wednesday, Jul 31, 13 @ 3:04 pm: Alexi campaigned on Wal-Mart as well as I recall. Specifically that his primary opponent had the temerity to buy supplies there. - Formerly Known As... - Wednesday, Jul 31, 13 @ 3:30 pm: In other news, Mike Frerichs denounces war and poverty. - Anonymous - Wednesday, Jul 31, 13 @ 3:38 pm: Crypto - if you are making a judgment on climate change based on a month of weather, I’m guessing you aren’t qualified to make any scientific judgement on climate change. But thanks for playing. - TooManyJens - Wednesday, Jul 31, 13 @ 3:39 pm: ==talk to anyone at the Scientific Surveys at UIUC and then posit your opine== I talk with just such a person on a fairly regular basis. He’s a somewhat conservative fellow, but he expresses great frustration with idiot politicians who ignore or deny science for ideological reasons. And yes, that includes global warming denial. - cover - Wednesday, Jul 31, 13 @ 3:39 pm: = In other news, Mike Frerichs denounces war and poverty. = It would be real news if he would denounce the War on Poverty… - TooManyJens - Wednesday, Jul 31, 13 @ 3:53 pm: Reading back, I see I misunderstood what Loop Lady was saying. Turns out we agree. - Formerly Known As... - Wednesday, Jul 31, 13 @ 3:56 pm: === It would be real news if he would denounce the War on Poverty === Or the Poverty of War. - 1776 - Wednesday, Jul 31, 13 @ 4:39 pm: Mike Frerichs supporting climate change after being the chief sponsor of fracking is extremely ironic. Let’s drill for oil and gas but support climate change efforts? - crypto - Wednesday, Jul 31, 13 @ 4:41 pm: funny someone accusing me of basing one month of weather on climate change opinion. has anyone watched TV or read a newspaper. Constantly blaming wildfire or tornado or other event that has been happening for centuries on global warming. global temps flatlined about 15 years ago and have trended down last four. If you lefties would actually follow the science instead of left wing echo chamber you’d know this. Again, left-wing New York Times just had story saying climate scientists could not explain recent temp flattening and why they weren’t matching alarmist climate models that are relied upon by the media for the alarmism. If the science was settled as some like to say, the results would match the models. They don’t — meaning the theory is off-base. That is how science works. It is not a PR campaign. - Anonymous - Wednesday, Jul 31, 13 @ 4:48 pm: In response to The Captain regarding the Illinois State Treassurer’s energy efficient low interest loan program, that program has not been eliminated but merged under the overall Business Invest program. Mary Frances Bragiel, Dir. of Communications Illinois State Treasurer Dan Rutherford - Chicago Cynic - Wednesday, Jul 31, 13 @ 4:50 pm: Crypto, the science is settled that the climate is changing and that human being’s are in no small measure responsible. Just like the science is settled that evolution is real. Does that mean that every question is settled? No. But hard as you try, you simply can’t ignore facts on the ground such as the Inuit’s facing declining hunting grounds, or the polar bear habitat or the declining permafrost or the lake currently sitting on the North Pole, etc. As you’ve conveniently ignored, the rest of the world take climate change as fact based on the endless evidence of real change. Just because you, FoxNews, the Heartland Foundation and the American Petroleum Institute disagree, doesn’t make it so. - Precinct Captain - Wednesday, Jul 31, 13 @ 5:15 pm: ==Good luck with “climate change” agenda. Coldest July in about 100 years. I’m sure climate change caused the cold too, because all events in the weather are now deemed to be caused by man. Just left wing junk science.== ==Ugh, the entire global warming scare is built on computer models.== ==Again, left-wing New York Times just had story saying climate scientists could not explain recent temp flattening and why they weren’t matching alarmist climate models that are relied upon by the media for the alarmism.== You are an idiot. You might want to take an introductory meteorology course at your local community college, college, or university to understand how meteorologists and climatologists use computer models. After that take a look at the meteorology section in Nate Silver’s The Signal and the Noise. Also, you talk a lot with a lot of claims but I don’t see a link in sight. ==Not a criticism, but Dems had better be careful about what they wish with this one.== Uh, he doesn’t hide his progressive credentials. He’s campaigned on tax increases. - Downstate Illinois - Wednesday, Jul 31, 13 @ 5:29 pm: There is broad support among conservatives! Get real. The evidence is growing every day that it’s nothing but hype. The last two years of interesting weather (drought and floods) pretty much mirrors the hot summer of ‘36 and the Ohio River flood of 1937, way, way back when climate change wasn’t an issue. - The Captain - Wednesday, Jul 31, 13 @ 5:33 pm: I stand corrected, and thank you for the helpful info. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.