Jerry Brown and Schwarzenegger ‘Unscrew’ Climate Change

Governor Moonbeam (Jerry Brown) and The Governator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) united in Paris for an interview during the climate change summit, advising the world on helpful climate-saving tips–like unscrewing children’s light bulbs.

The Los Angeles Times quoted Brown: “It’s important for people to know that Republicans can work with Democrats and vice versa.” Schwarzenegger added: “That is a very important message for the international community, that they should not look at [climate change] in a political way.”

Schwarzenegger tacitly blamed his own party, blurting, “Is anything getting done in Washington?” Brown resorted to ad hominem attacks, calling those opposed to his climate change efforts as “troglodytes,” adding: “This is a creature that lives in caves. As people hear that word, they’re going to say, what does all that mean? And when they think about it, they may want to walk outside their caves and see the sunshine.”

According to the Sacramento Bee, Schwarzenegger enthused of his comrade-in-arms, “It is like one mind in two bodies.” Brown puffed, “I don’t know about that ‘one mind.’ But why not? Great minds think alike.”

Schwarzenegger told the summit that he blamed the world for Chinese emissions, arguing that global demand for Chinese products meant the world was “sending its pollution” to China, according to CNBC. CNBC quoted The Governator: “The whole world is (asking) China to produce their products so therefore we’re basically sending all the pollution to China and so now they have to deal with it and we all have to work together with them. It’s not like finger-pointing (at China) or like ‘them versus us,’ it’s more like ‘how can we do this together?’”

As governor, Schwarzenegger approved a cap on greenhouse gas emissions; approved a bill barring large utilities and corporations from working with suppliers who did not meet the state’s greenhouse gas emission standards; and issued an executive order calling to reduce greenhouse gases to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.

In February 2015, Schwarzenegger borrowed a page from the Barack Obama playbook, telling the Munich Security Conference, which deals with international security issues, that climate change was “the issue of our time.”

Photo: file