Source: http://www.londonrubbish.com/images/20050813161938_20050813.jpgActually, when writing about an Inconvenient Truth I was planning an introduction to an article I read in Newsweek (April 16, 2007) recently. It presented Arnold Schwarzenegger as “The Green Giant” able to build coalitions between Chevron and the Sierra Club (a Club dedicated to many environmental issues, in particular related to global warming and green house effects) or at least to bring representatives of both groups on one stage with him, the one and only Governator, in the middle.
I think the article sums up very well the environmental discussion in the US. California is leading and other states are taking an example at the new laws that were passed in the past year(s) and get ready to do the same. The family we were staying with in Colorado told us that it was good that California was not waiting for Washington to do something because America will follow what happens in The Golden State anyway. Many economists, enterprises and investors have understood that there is money to make in high-tech methods helping to save energy and save the environment. President Bush, however, does not want to put any pressure on the automobile industry to develop new engines or less fuel consuming cars. He claims that without China and India in the boat nothing is to be done. I was astonished to hear that America compares its economy with the one of a post-communist regime and of a developing country. Furthermore, European and Asian automobile companies are already investing a lot of money and efforts in the development of new technologies, while American companies are waiting for more restrictive laws in their home country.
Anyway, back to the article again. The green giant told some journalists about the origin of this attitude: Schwarzenegger traces his green sensibilities to his childhood in postwar Austria, where he grew up with rationed food and electricity - and had to haul bath water from a well. "I'm a conservative fanatic," he says. "I still can't walk out of a room without turning off the lights. I can't stand it when the kids spend longer than five minutes in the shower." (Newsweek April 16(print), 2007. 56).
There is another passage in the text referring to Schwarzenegger's roots, when describing the impossibility of him being elected president of the US, which I think is very amusing.
Austria is also to be found on a diagram describing the Global per Capita Carbon Dioxide Emissions. The result is striking, countries like Switzerland, France or even Italy are better off than Austria, still in the US the per Capita consumption is about three times as high as in Austria. California on the other hand is not that many tons away from Austria. This diagram should tell us that Austria is not all that green as it likes to present itself!
To end this article one thing needs to be said: More than once Arnold Schwarzenegger is described as "savvy" in Newsweek magazine. I believe this adjective hasn't been used to describe him as an actor nor as governator before his Green campaign.
This picture is related to a speech of Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2004
source: http://gopandcollege.blogspot.com/2004_08_01_archive.html Republican Blog...Nice vocab and cultural information picked up while reading:
Sierra Club
...there are still bones to pick.
Jousting
To assuage your conscience without tightening your belt
Endorsement
A tepid relationship
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