OPINION and ANALYSIS   By Sharon Szmolyan

 

LOS ANGELES – Former California governor and action movie mega-star Arnold Schwarzenegger’s new think tank includes some ‘heavyweights’ ready to transform the energy- environment picture in the United States.

          Schwarzenegger’s ‘High-definition’ vision is to create meaningful international dialogue around providing universal energy access, and the multiple benefits of increasing energy efficiency while reducing energy intensity by 40 per cent before 2030.

          Ultimately, by identifying targets and policies that support these objectives and prioritize key national and regional actions, these are achievable goals.

          Schwarzenegger, California’s governor for eight years, Hollywood mega-star for 20 years, and former Mr. Universe, also has several honorary PhDs.

          His new career is now as head of the USC Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy (http://www.usc.edu/schools/price/research/centers/schwarzenegger/), housed in the Sol Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California. Schwarzenegger, with his exceptional fundraising skills, personally funded the new institute, which bills itself as: “Advancing Policy, Not Politics.” 

          The institute is dedicated to “promoting a new era of post-partisanship, where solutions are the result of intelligent and civil discussion between people with deeply held principles who understand the need to work through their disagreements to achieve real solutions,” Schwarzenegger said at the institute’s launch in August 2012.

          The U.S. today, embittered by vestiges of a class war and the ugly legacy of racism, is a political battleground fueled by a $9-billion expenditure from party coffers along with liberal and conservative SuperPACs – political action committees that spend unlimited sums to overtly advocate for or against political candidates.

          All this in a country where, consistently, less than 60 per cent of its population votes (see http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0781453.html). 

         The Schwarzenegger Institute will emphasize the importance of science and evidence in policy making, focusing on five key areas: education, energy and environment, fiscal and economic policy, health and human wellness, and political reform.

          The institute also “will focus on the responsibility of leaders to transcend partisanship to implement policies that most benefit the people they serve.” 

           Schwarzenegger is noted for putting his money where his political muscle is. In a world beset by myriad problems, his big vision could not come at a better time.The new think tank’s strongest asset is Schwarzenegger’s ability to synthesize all his strengths, including gathering a ‘Who’s Who’ in politics and entertainment for the institute’s inaugural public event, a one-day symposium at the University of Southern California on September 24, 2012 (see http://www.schwarzenegger.com/issues/post/schwarzenegger-institute-symposium).  Schwarzenegger was introduced glowingly by USC President C. L. Max Nikias.

          The political heavyweights on the morning panel, in addition to Schwarzenegger, included: Sen. John McCain, former governors Charlie Crist (Florida), Tom Ridge (Pennsylvania) and Bill Richardson (New Mexico), and former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle. The panel eventually focused on talking about the role of entertainment and the media in shaping public opinion. 

          “The power of films and television is enormous It is much more powerful than politicians could ever be,” Schwarzenegger said, in affirming his view on the importance of informing people about issues that need solutions.

          He referred to former U.S. vice-president Al Gore’s documentary film, An Inconvenient Truth, as an example that pointed to Schwarzenegger’s signature initiative on climate change as California’s governor.

           In September 2009, Schwarzenegger signed an executive order directing the California Air Resources Board to adopt regulations increasing California’s Renewable Portfolio Standard to 33 per cent by 2020. Three years earlier, he had committed the state to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 25 per cent by 2020.

          Public opinion may have tilted away from a sense of urgency on climate issues over the past four years, but these issues are still front and centre, Schwarzenegger told the audience at his institute’s inaugural event. 

          There needs to be a sequel to An Inconvenient Truth, by a team of people who can jump in and take on Gore’s role in making the case for action, he said. Given his audience, this essentially was an ‘open call’ – and a significant opportunity for those interested.

          In signalling his objectives as a professor in his institute, Schwarzenegger recognized Gore’s Nobel Peace Prize citation about his strong commitment reflected in political activity, lectures, films and books.

          “(Al Gore) is probably the single individual who has done most to create greater worldwide understanding of the measures that need to be adopted,” in response to climate change, Schwarzenegger said.

          The Nobel Peace Prize committee awarded Gore and the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. The committee honored the IPCC for two decades of work producing scientific reports that have led to an ever-broader informed consensus about the connection between human activities and global warming – a perspective that An Inconvenient Truth supported.

          It’s no surprise then that Rajendra Kumar Pachauri, chairman of the IPCC, is on the Schwarzenegger Institute’s board of advisors, as is Kandeh K. Yumekella, director-general of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization.

          Yumekella was appointed in 2009 by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to chair the UN’s Advisory Group on Energy and Climate Change. This group of international experts, industry leaders and UN system representatives advises on energy issues critical to the new global climate change deal and beyond. 

          Yumekella also is a member of the China Council of International Cooperation on Environment and Development, which advises top Chinese government officials on environment and development.

          Other advisory board members of the Schwarzenegger Institute include: Vicente Fox, Mexico’s former president; George P. Schultz, former U.S. Secretary of State under Ronald Reagan; and Henry Cisneros, former mayor of San Antonio and Bill Clinton’s Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. This handpicked team of heavyweights knows how to get things done; their reputations carry real clout when they get behind a cause.

          Global Director of the Schwarzenegger Institute is Bonnie Reiss, who comes with a background in business, law, entertainment and politics. Reiss formed ECO (Earth Communications Office – http://www.oneearth.org/), supported by Imagine Entertainment, a film and television production company founded in 1986 by director Ron Howard and producer Brian Grazer.

          ECO sees itself as the “media component” of the global environmental movement, utilizing the skills of media leaders across large public awareness campaigns on television, movies, and music – all galvanized by the power of celebrity.

          In 2007, Reiss and Terry Tamminen became strategic advisors to Pegasus Capital Advisors. Tamminen, as then-Gov. Schwarzenegger’s Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency from 2003 to 2007, was instrumental in creating the state’s environmental action plan. 

         Reiss, who pointed to community work that actors George Clooney has done in the Sudan, Brad Pitt in New Orleans, and Sean Penn in Haiti, indicated that the Schwarzenegger Institute would tap the media’s role and the significance of celebrity in drawing attention to issues and causes.

          It certainly wouldn’t be the first time that Hollywood’s star power has shone the spotlight on an energy-environment issue.In 2010, Canadian-born movie blockbuster director James Cameron toured Alberta’s oilsands, meeting with the province’s premier and two opposition parties, industry leaders and First Nations groups. After the three-day tour, the director of Avatar stood with First Nations groups and urged the Alberta government to do more to protect their land from pollution caused by oilsands development. 

         In addition to its celebrity connections, the Schwarzenegger Institute appears to have a solid academic footing.Institute Academic Director Nancy Staudt holds a joint appointment in USC’s Gould School of Law and the Sol Price School of Public Policy. As a nationally recognized scholar on taxes and tax policy, she has published extensively about decisions by both the legislative and judicial branches of government.

         Staudt is a frequent speaker on taxation topics to legal and scholarly audiences. She is currently working on  a book on the “judicial business cycle” which examines how judge’s votes and case outcomes are affected by economic conditions.

         Schwarzenegger was at his best during the symposium in advocating for accountability. To his colleagues in the political realm, he challenged: “If your main objective is to be re-elected then you’re screwed as of day one. If the military is willing and able to risk their lives to protect us, why is a politician not willing to risk their office?

         “Yes, right now it is difficult to do anything . . . (but) if you want to be a career politician for the rest of your life, well, good luck . . . what a sad story!”  Given Schwarzenegger’s commitment to sustainable energy and his participation in the 2011 Vienna Energy Forum (http://www.unido.org/fileadmin/user_media/Services/Energy_and_Climate_Change/Renewable_Energy/VEF_2011/VEF%20Final%20Programme.pdf), perhaps we can look forward to his new institute facilitating a meaningful, bi-partisan discussion on an American energy policy.

           “It will take courage to tackle real problems,” Schwarzenegger said.  Of course it will. But the U.S. is the land of the free and the home of the brave. Courage is embedded in the DNA of American culture. EnviroLine