Arnold Schwarzenegger speaks at Georgetown University
April 22nd, 2007 . by admin
From the 11th of April 2007 at the Georgetown University Environmental Conference, the Republican Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger gave an inspirational speech where he invites opposition to hop on the environmental bandwagon now, or find themselves politically stranded out at sea.
He indicates three tipping factors for the environmentalist movement to switch from being guilt-motivated to passion-motivated, the first is politics, the second is the economy and the third is the people actually believing in it.
From the political tipping Governor Schwarzeneggar calls this a bipartisan or post-partisan way of doing things where everyone helps see what is best for California and America and most of all, getting the legislature done.
After quickly relating from his own experiences with bodybuilding, the Governor explains how something can seem weird at one time and filled with fanatics, and then suddenly the whole public image of that area changes as soon as it goes out into the mainstream; this is what is happening with the environmentalist movement.
For a long time, the whole environmental movement has been based on guilt, a tactic, that according to Governor Schwarzenegger does not work with movements; what works is something proactive, built on dynamic passions in a mass scale.
But to get to that tipping point, someone has to take the initiative, and this is what California is doing, partnering with anyone willing from any state, company, country, province or territory that will partner with them in tipping the belief from guilt-driven to passion-driven.
The Governor of California realizes that California is a model for what happens in the world as a whole, and has been so for decades, which is why he claims metaphorically that he can balance the earth on his finger, that is, just under the state of California on a globe; California does the modeling, while the world does the rest.
He realizes that by modeling in California, global warming will not be solved, but by applying leverage, the whole environmental thing will tip on its own.
Two things have been done in the legislature to improve dialogue about environmentalism; the first is capping greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent until 2020 and virtually zero by 2050.
The second action has been to order an immediate cut in 10 percent on carbon content in transportation fuels.
While the car industry in Chicago for example is fussy about these radical changes, Schwarzeneggers immediate response to them is that if they dont go environmental now, they will be left behind in the near future, because this issue is already starting to tip in California and once that happens, the world will follow.
The second tipping factor according to the Governor, is economics, because like cellular phones, as the industry produces ever better, ever cheaper models for average people, the price eventually becomes ever more accessible; and it will happen with environmental issues the world over, as it is already happening now, in California.
The third tipping factor is the people themselves, their actual belief in environmentalism, which is the real goal that will save our planet from the melting of the ice caps.
He uses a popular example of the TV show, Pimp My Ride, as a perfect example, where he has done a segment for the next Earth Day to show how really cool it is to be an environmentalist today.
With regard to other nations in the developing world, Schwarzenegger also realizes that some economies will keep on polluting our environment, and those that do, will suffer what he calls environmental sanctions and thus be economically forced into an environmentalist attitude.
With an optimistic view on environmentalism, the room for political rhetoric that he uses has given way to inspiration and passion for anyone willing to lead the way right now; Governor Schwarzenegger is making good on his promises, and bringing a little more hope to our planet, in a time when we need it the most.
Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger speaks at Georgetown University Environmental Conference; predicting a tip in the current global view of environmentalism, for three reasons, politics, economy and people; in Ronald Reagans famous quote, environmentalism is “This last, best hope of man on Earth.”
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