Arnold Schwarzenegger has been one of the few Republican champions of climate action. That’s not to say he’s been perfect on the topic, but he has been serious about wanting to address global heating and disruptive climate change. Also, frankly, he’s been a top-notch climate communicator. Talking about climate change in an effective way is a humongous challenge, especially on the Republican side of the aisle. But, as it turns out, the “I’ll be back” guy is talented at both short-form and long-form statements on the climate crisis.
So, yes, headlines about Arnold Schwarzenegger saying “No one gives a sh** about [climate change]” caught my attention. I didn’t expect the worst from him — rather, I thought that perhaps that this was another lesson in communications. It was.
Now, this isn’t a novel discovery or idea. The argument Schwarzenegger makes has been made before — years ago — and I already found it compelling. Unfortunately, it is primarily ignored.
“As long as they keep talking about global climate change, they are not gonna go anywhere, because no one gives a s–t about that,” Schwarzenegger told CBS News. He added that climate change sounds subtle, warm, welcoming, whereas pollution is still a fully negative connotation. Pollution still scares people, and even people far from the battle.
You focus on the word pollution. Pollution scares people. Pollution is something that people can viscerally feel and sense. “Climate change” sounds like it comes from subtle, warm pieces of comfort. “So my thing is, let’s go and rephrase this and communicate differently about it and really tell people we’re talking about pollution. Pollution creates climate change, and pollution kills.”
So, indeed, Arnold does care about climate change and does care about protecting our Earth. But he realizes that most do not so easily feel alarmed by the crisis and need something more direct, more personal to reach them. “I’m on a mission to go and reduce greenhouse gases worldwide, because I’m into having a healthy body and a healthy Earth,” Schwarzenegger said. “That’s what I’m fighting for, and that’s my crusade.”
Featured image created by DALL·E.
Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News!
Have a tip for CleanTechnica, want to advertise, or want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.
Former Tesla Battery Expert Leading Lyten Into New Lithium-Sulfur Battery Era — Podcast:
I don't like paywalls. You don't like paywalls. Who likes paywalls? Here at CleanTechnica, we implemented a limited paywall for a while, but it always felt wrong — and it was always tough to decide what we should put behind there. In theory, your most exclusive and best content goes behind a paywall. But then fewer people read it! We just don't like paywalls, and so we've decided to ditch ours. Unfortunately, the media business is still a tough, cut-throat business with tiny margins. It's a never-ending Olympic challenge to stay above water or even perhaps — gasp — grow. So ...
