Air board pays $75K for columnist's speech

Judging by the $75,000 speaking fee it paid to New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District has plenty of green to burn even in these lean times.

The agency, which gets its money from business permits and federal and state sources, booked the Pulitzer Prize-winning pundit to appear this past week at its big climate summit in downtown Oakland's Fox Theater, attended by 500 invited bureaucrats.

In addition to Friedman's speaking fee, the air board picked up his tab for a night at the Claremont Resort.

Air district spokeswoman Lisa Fasano put the summit cost at $200,000 - or about $400 per participant.

Fasano said the idea was to bring together managers and planners to "spark even greater movement" in the effort to reduce the Bay Area's greenhouse-gas footprint.

Friedman spent about two hours with the group, including answering questions and autographing copies of his latest book, "Hot, Flat and Crowded" - in which he argues that a national strategy of "geo-Greenism" is needed to save the planet from global warming and to make the country more productive.

As for reports that Friedman's talk was almost identical to a speech he gave in November in Florida at a National League of Cities confab - which is available online for free? "That very likely may be," Fasano said. "But this certainly is much more moving and inspirational to see and hear in person."

For that price, we hope so.

Foul ball: Baseball's Tony La Russa isn't to be Twittered with.

This past week, the St. Louis Cardinals manager and Danville resident slapped a lawsuit on the San Francisco-based social networking site Twitter after his name and image were used online to make it appear he was a Twitter user himself.

And a very crude one, at that.

"Lost 2 out of 3, but we made it out of Chicago without one drunk driving incident or dead pitcher," said one posting under La Russa's name and photo.

"We tried to reach (Twitter) for a week, and got no response," said La Russa's attorney, Gregory McCoy.

But within a half hour of the trade infringement and "cybersquatting" complaint being filed in San Francisco Superior Court, the bogus La Russa home page and postings vanished from Twitterland.

And from what we're told, the suit will probably disappear as well.

The name game: Lt. Gov. John Garamendi just commissioned a poll that (surprise, surprise) showed him to be the front-runner in the race to replace outgoing East Bay Rep. Ellen Tauscher.

What makes the poll noteworthy, however, is that if it is an accurate predictor of the special election to replace Tauscher, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger could find himself with the chance to replace Garamendi as the state's No. 2 official.

Someone who would then have an inside lane in the race to replace Arnold when he is terminated out next year.

Among the names already being floated: Republican state Sen. Abel Maldonado, former state Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez - a Democrat - and, our personal favorite, Arnold's wife, MariaShriver.

Fire prevention: Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums' slash-and-burn budget calls for laying off 140 police officers - but not so much as one firefighter.

Apparently, they are untouchable.

City Hall sources tell us the no-cut policy began with a deal cut to pass Measure Y, the 2004 parking and parcel tax that Oakland voters approved to increase public safety.

Initially, the measure was meant to put more cops on the streets, but early polling showed voters reluctant to get on board. So the firefighters - still basking in the hero glow of 9/11 - were brought into the mix.

In exchange, the Fire Department was promised an extra $4 million a year.

And just to make sure nobody backed out, language was inserted in the measure guaranteeing a minimum of 507 firefighters citywide.

Political 911: You know it's election time when teachers and firefighters start popping up on your TV screen, and the reason is simple - they sell.

In fact, firefighters are so good at political pitching that the California Professional Firefighters association owns and operates its own TV studio in Sacramento, where it produces commercials for candidates and measures it's backing.

And with good reason. A 2005 California Voter Survey found that firefighters, nurses and teachers were the highest scorers with voters when it came to perceptions of honesty and ethics.

Unlike other public employees, who are often viewed as lazy and interested only in their pensions, firefighters, nurses and teachers are seen as the good guys. Plus, unlike cops, "they don't arrest anyone," said pollster David Binder.

So when the chips are down, out go the calls and in come the firefighters and teachers. Which is what's happening now with the ballot measures that are intended to help bail the state out if its financial mess.

As for the nurses: they're available - but for the opposition. They're against Arnold's plan.

EXTRA! Catch our blog at www.sfgate.com/matierandross.