Schwarzenegger Gives Keynote on Climate Change

Arnold is back and he just gave the keynote speech at this year's ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit in Washington, DC. Now that he's no longer the governor of California, Schwarzenegger is on a mission to advocate a national transformation to green energy. He stated that when he started bodybuilding more than 40 years ago it was far from the mainstream sport it is today.

Schwarzenegger explained, "We needed to change bodybuilding's whole perception, so it wouldn't simply be equated with men in skimpy bathing suits." His contention is that we need to move past the old arguments over climate change and move forward with a green energy revolution.

Referring to China's investment in manufacturing green technologies, he said the US can't afford to be a new culture with old ideas while other countries are ancient cultures with new ideas. “We want a new era of energy independence, a new era of green technology and green jobs, a new era of better health from a cleaner environment and a new era of American inventiveness," said Schwarzenegger. His speech also referred to the many health conditions caused by pollution from burning fossil fuels, and the US dependence on politically unstable regions for oil.

Schwarzenegger made environmental policy one of the main thrusts of his administration, signing into law reductions in greenhouse gases and a renewable energy mandate which has boosted renewable electricity production to 20 percent of California's total. He referred to the revolution in the Middle East, with a similar revolution of new ideas capable of overthrowing the old energy order.

The ARPA-E (Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy) Energy Innovation Summit brings together the US energy innovation community to help bring about another Industrial Revolution in clean energy technologies. The conference is hosted by ARPA-E and the US Department of Energy.