Schwarzenegger’s Political Pollution
Candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger promised the people of California that he would make our environment better for generations to come. Unfortunately, Governor Schwarzenegger quickly flip-flopped on that promise and sold the environment out to his allies in the oil, power, and transportation industries. His empty rhetoric and broken promises have polluted the political landscape from the day he took office:
- Despite pledging to increase renewable energy production in 2003, Schwarzenegger flip-flopped and vetoed SB 1478 in 2004, a bill that would have required utility companies to generate 20% of their energy from renewable energy sources by 2010.
- Governor Schwarzenegger had a chance to endorse the Clean Alternative Energy Initiative, Proposition 87 on the November ballot, which will provide $400 million per year for alternative energy initiatives to reduce our reliance on oil and gasoline and to combat the impact of global warming. But Governor Schwarzenegger quickly sold out to his buddies from Big Oil – the same crew that is making $350 million in profits per day – to oppose the initiative, while Californians pay record gas prices at the pump.
- British Prime Minister Tony Blair visited California recently and Governor Schwarzenegger organized a photo-op at the Port of Long Beach to tout his position global warming and pollution at the port. But when the Governor had the opportunity to crack down on the pollution at the ports which poisons air the children breathe, he sold out to his friends in Big Oil and vetoed that legislation, too.
- Our National Forests provide another example of Governor Schwarzenegger’s phony election year conversion on the environment. In July, Schwarzenegger petitioned the Bush administration to protect California’s remaining roadless areas in our National Forests. However, this comes long after Schwarzenegger embraced the Bush administration’s gutting of the Clinton Administration’s Roadless Rule, which prohibited new roads and development on seven million acres of National Forests in California. California’s congressional delegation denounced Schwarzenegger’s sellout to the timber industry.
- Governor Schwarzenegger pledges his support for coastal protection, but his actions have not matched his rhetoric. He vetoed $975,000 from the already under-funded Coastal Commission, failed to fund the Marine Life Protection Act and vetoed legislation requiring public disclosure of lobbyists’ private contacts with coastal commissioners. He has championed the construction of LNG terminals on the coast without adequate review and the weakening of environmental review for new development.
Compare the Candidates on the Issue: Greenhouse Gases | 
