Actor and politician Arnold Schwarzenegger is known for his blunt portrayals of macho characters who get the job done at all costs, and the “Terminator” is taking the same take no prisoners attitude about fossil fuels.
Schwarzenegger, a Republican who has supported efforts to mitigate climate change and global warming, is taking a different tack in his approach to campaigning against fossil fuels this time. He is now making the argument to conservatives that polluting, expensive fossil fuels must go whether you believer in the science behind climate change or not.
In a Facebook post on Monday, December 7th, Schwarzenegger tried a more sophisticated rhetorical approach to convince Americans that the continued large-scale use of fossil fuels is a major problem today and a disaster for our grandchildren.
Excerpts from Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Monday Facebook post on climate change and fossil fuels
Schwarzenegger poses a series of questions to his readers in his post. He starts by saying let’s just say that climate change isn’t caused by carbon from fossil fuels.
He says: “Let’s put climate change aside for a minute. In fact, let’s assume you’re right.”
Next, he highlights the disastrous consequences of the ongoing large-scale use of fossil fuels:
“First – do you believe it is acceptable that 7 million people die every year from pollution? That’s more than murders, suicides, and car accidents – combined.
Every day, 19,000 people die from pollution from fossil fuels. Do you accept those deaths? Do you accept that children all over the world have to grow up breathing with inhalers?”
Then Schwarzenegger notes that fossil fuels are also a limited resource:
“Now, my second question: do you believe coal and oil will be the fuels of the future?
Besides the fact that fossil fuels destroy our lungs, everyone agrees that eventually they will run out. What’s your plan then?”
He wraps his indictment of fossil fuels with a powerful argument, even invoking expletives to demonstrate the strength of his beliefs:
“To use one of the four-letter words all of you commenters love, I don’t give a damn if you believe in climate change. I couldn’t care less if you’re concerned about temperatures rising or melting glaciers. It doesn’t matter to me which of us is right about the science.”
The use of fossil fuels is the real problem, and its way past time we did something about it.
