VIENNA (AP) 鈥� Arnold Schwarzenegger has a message for environmentalists who despair at the the approach of President administration: 鈥淪top whining and get to work.鈥�
The has taken an ax to Biden-era environmental ambitions, rolled back landmark regulations, withdrawn climate project funding and instead bolstered support for oil and gas production in the name of an 鈥淎merican energy dominance鈥� agenda.
Schwarzenegger, the former Republican governor of California, has devoted time to environmental causes since leaving political office in 2011.
He said Tuesday he keeps hearing from environmentalists and policy experts lately who ask, 鈥淲hat is the point of fighting for a clean environment when the government of the United States says climate change is a hoax and coal and oil is the future?鈥�
Schwarzenegger told the Austrian World Summit in Vienna, an event he helps organize, that he responds: 鈥淪top whining and get to work.鈥�
He pointed to examples of local and regional governments and companies taking action, including his own administration in California, and argued 70% of pollution is reduced at the local or state level.
鈥淏e the mayor that makes buses electric; be the CEO who ends fossil fuel dependence; be the school that puts (up) solar roofs," he said.
鈥淵ou can't just sit around and make excuses because one guy in a very nice White House on Pennsylvania Avenue doesn't agree with you,鈥� he said, adding that attacking the president is 鈥渘ot my style鈥� and he doesn't criticize any president when outside the U.S.
鈥淚 know that the people are sick and tired of the whining and the complaining and the doom and gloom,鈥� Schwarzenegger said. 鈥淭he only way we win the people's hearts and minds is by showing them action that makes their lives better.鈥�
The Associated Press
