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With Michigan voters going to the polls tomorrow in a crucial Republican primary, Mitt Romney is dishing out words he thinks his listeners want to hear -- following a familiar pattern of opportunism that leaves climate action out in the cold -- again.

Mr. Romney criticized the energy bill signed into law last month by President Bush that requires cars and trucks sold in the United States to achieve a fleet average of 35 miles per gallon by 2020. Substantial majorities in both parties in both houses of Congress approved the measure.

Mr. Romney said he opposed the new mileage standard, describing it as an anvil tossed to Detroit by a government that did not understand the auto industry or care about its workers. "As president, I will not rest as Detroit gets to see layoff after layoff after layoff," he said.

Let's see if Michiganders fall for it. As Governor of Massachusetts, he had blazed a different political path, joining in progressive climate action initiatives and promising protection of gay rights.

But as his presidential ambitions grew, he left behind allies and positions that helped him get elected and attain popularity. The positions just would not jibe with the image he was creating as champion of conservative causes in his race for national office.