Former California Governor and Hollywood superstar Arnold Schwarzenegger has taken to Facebook to announce he has heard climate change detractors’ arguments but just doesn’t “give a f– “.
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He once famously quipped, “You hit like a vegetarian” in reference to Sylvester Stallone, but Arnold Schwarzenegger may be changing his staunch carnivorous ways.
He told the BBC, “My friend recommends stop eating meat (sic)”.
Ellie Highwood, professor of climate physics at the University of Reading, told Newsbeat “if everyone around the world ate as much as we do in Britain, it would be even worse”. Comments at a conference on climate change were followed up by a Facebook post that took the internet by storm.
The environmental activist said it is crucial for ordinary people to get involved at the grassroots level in the fight against climate change.
The former bodybuilder was California governor between 2003 and 2011 and in 2006 signed a bill creating a cap on greenhouse gas emissions.
“It’s a good idea [to stop eating meat] but I don’t think people will buy it. People will buy into stopping [eating meat] may be a day a week or two days a week – or something like that”.
He was challenged about his meat eating and if it was possible to be as big as he has been as a vegetarian.
When asked how young men would achieve a body like The Terminator – the cyborg assassin in the film of the same name – without steak, he said many successful body-builders avoided meat. He said he was glad to see that Democrat Jerry Brown, his successor, has continued pushing for greater use of renewables, and hopes the next governor will continue on that route. Arnold also suggested that instead of urging people to go vegan, it would be better if they were encouraged to give up meet, at least, one or more days in a week.
These are the questions that pragmatic people should answer if they are not willing to lend an ear to climate change discussions.
When asked about the promises from all the leading Republican Presidential hopefuls to scrap President Obama’s climate laws, he said if he were in Washington he would make climate change a non-party issue through strong leadership. Others will say it hits very wide of the mark.
Over the past half-century, greenhouse gas emissions from fisheries, forestry and farming have nearly doubled, and are likely to grow by a further 30% by the middle of this century, the United Nations has warned.
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