They’ve become friendly poster boys for their traditional political adversaries.

State Rep. Swinford, a Dumas Republican — and a rock-solid conservative — has been honored by one of the state’s leading liberal interest groups, Public Citizen of Texas. PCT honored Swinford for his legislative work in furthering the cause of wind energy in West Texas. The award is called the Texas Outstanding Public Service Award and it was bestowed recently at a dinner in Austin.

Pickens, the former Amarillo oil tycoon, also has become a darling of the environmental movement with his own wind-farm initiatives. The legendary billionaire wildcatter, a lifelong Republican, endeared himself in the past year with Democrats, liberals and environmental activists for his own work to promote wind energy; his plan to construct the world’s largest wind farm in the Panhandle has been put on hold while he tries to recover from the economic downtown that has hit all of us.

Swinford and Pickens share a political philosophy. They also share the distinction of being present when their adversaries have set aside their differences in the cause of environmental protection.

Or, put another way: They both have witnessed hell freezing over.