Republican Rep. Bob Inglis’ fourth congressional district in South Carolina features a significant investment from BMW — the huge Zentrum factory in Spartanburg, where 4500 workers produce more than 100,000 BMW vehicles a year,

Inglis, the ranking member of the Energy & Environment Subcommittee of the House Science and Technology Committee, advocates the “Hydrogen Economy” and is a founding member of the House Hyrdogen and Fuel Cell Caucus.  All that dovetails well with the new BMW Hydrogen 7, a luxury performance sedan featured at Zentrum.

So it’s no surprise that in its new issue, BMW Magazine spotlights Inglis, including a full-page photo of him wading knee-deep into a BMW pool  (don’t worry: his trousers are rolled up at the knees) with this caption: “Congressman Bob Inglis (R-SC) stands by BMW while they help lead the way to a healthy, clean Hydrogen Future.”

But what might surprise some is this headline over a story about a Republican: “The Convert on Global Warming.”  And these Inglis quotes:

• “Human beings are a substantial cause of global warming.”
• “I shouldn’t be able to do something on my land that can do harm to my neightbor’s land.”
• Al Gore’s film “An Inconvenient Truth” is “compelling”

Further proof that all politics is local — and looks real sharp in a sporty BMW.