How green is governor's hue?
SACRAMENTO — He is gaining a reputation as the green governor who is marshaling California in the fight against global warming. But Arnold Schwarzenegger was one of the last people in the Capitol to join the battle, and has earned so-so grades from environmental activists.
Schwarzenegger seems to be everywhere as the crowd-friendly face of environmental activism. Catch him on the cover of Newsweek, balancing a fragile globe on the tip of a finger, or giving a big environmental speech in Washington.
On Thursday he addressed the prestigious Council on Foreign Relations in New York. Diane Sawyer interviewed him about the environment for ABC, Charlie Rose did so for PBS, Hannity & Colmes for Fox. And Britain's Conservative Party has booked him for a fall trip to spread the message abroad.
MTV viewers will even find Schwarzenegger in a cameo on "Pimp My Ride'' on Earth Day, April 22. He will inspect a 1965 Chevy Impala that has been given an 800-horsepower engine powered by clean-burning fuel.
His aim, Schwarzenegger said in Washington this week, is to make environmentalism "hip."
"You don't have to get rid of SUVs, you don't have to get rid of Hummers,'' he said. "We need to take the technology and make clean engines. That is the message.''
Back home, environmentalists see the governor's green credentials as thin.
The governor has taken more than $1 million in campaign money from the oil industry, whose products contribute to the greenhouse gas buildup that Schwarzenegger says he wants to roll back. And he is not reliable in using his bill-signing powers to protect the environment, activists say.
Each year, the California League of Conservation Voters puts out an annual scorecard that rates the governor on a scale of 0 to 100, based on the environmental bills he has signed or vetoed. Last year, Schwarzenegger's grade was 50, down from the previous two years when he logged a 58.
Gray Davis, the governor Schwarzenegger ousted in the 2003 recall, scored 75 in 2002 and 85 the year before that.
"Despite the governor's public embrace of the environment, his record on signing good environmental bills into law remains mediocre,'' the league said in its annual report card.
Schwarzenegger administration officials insist that the governor is a progressive force for environmental protection.
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