Arnold Schwarzenegger and Kamala Harris speak at climate summit in Austria

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Thank you so much I see Matt Iceman I mean he's the best how can anyone dramatize the situation more I love this guy so thank you very much Matt for this wonderful introduction and I have to say it is wonderful to be back again in Vienna to be back in Austria I always miss the delicious food here and the delicious wine and the schnapps and all of those kind of things and now we've been doing this now for 10 years I want to just say thank you to a lot of people because without them this wouldn't have been possible first of all thank you so much to my partner president van der Belen you've been a true friend he is a conservative like me and the Green Party leader together united in our mission to terminate pollution for a decade now our partnership has shown to the world that clean air and clean water is not a political issue it is a people's issue I want to say thank you for your partnership and for your believing in us and believing in this cause you've been an absolute jewel let's give a big hand president van der Belen also a big thank you goes to chancellor stoker i loved your speech i mean it's fantastic you know how great it is to have you here as a conservative your speech. I mean, it's fantastic. You know how great it is to have you here as a conservative? Not only because you're so supportive of the environmental movement and to create a clean world, but because it shows to the world that conservatives and people from the Green Party and liberals, everyone can work together. This is what you show. So I want to say thank you being here today. Thank you for the great speech that you did. And thank you for the great cigar you gave me yesterday. Man, that was fantastic. So thank you, Victor. Hand to the Chancellor. And yesterday, of course, you said to me, you said, Arnold, why do you look like so surprised? And I said to you, I said, because I see the same chancellor two years in a row. I mean, this is a record. I mean, this is like unbelievable. So thanks. You have brought stability back to Austria. Thank you very much for that. A big thank you also goes to Monica Langtaler and our entire team. They worked their butts off throughout the year so that we can come together here and inspire the world. I just thank the world of Monica. Monica, you're an absolute jewel. Also, without you, we couldn't do that. So thank you very much. Big hand also to Monica Langtaler and the entire team. And thank you to Vice President Kamala Harris. Kamala and I come from different political parties. But unlike a lot of the politicians who think that their job is attacking the opposition on social media and everywhere else that they can, we don't let that stop us from working together, especially especially when it comes to terminating pollution. Because Kamala is also a terminator. She also wants to terminate pollution. We're in total agreement with that. I want to say thank you, Vice President. It means so much for us that you came all the way from the United States to come here to our climate conference. It is really fantastic. And I hope that you can stay a little bit longer so that you can enjoy Austria. To go maybe a little boat ride on a daniel, or to see the beautiful Stefan's Cathedral, or to eat the delicious Austrian food and enjoy the wine. And of course, we are known for our museums, especially the Schwarzenegger Museum. You've got to go and see that one. Anyway, thank you very much for being here today. It means a lot to us. Now, I also want to say thank you to all the other speakers and sponsors. This year, as you've already heard, it is a special year. It's our 10-year anniversary, the 10th annual summit. And it has been a fantastic experience. 10 years ago, we started here in Vienna with one mission. That is to terminate pollution. Some people said it was a crazy idea. But I have heard this my whole life. When I wanted to be a bodybuilder, they said this is a crazy idea. When I wanted to go to America, they said it's a crazy idea. When I wanted to be a leading man in the movies, they said, well, that's insane. What a crazy idea. It would never happen. So, of course, I paid no attention to that. I mean, they even said, leave the environmental summits to the United Nations and to the world leaders. What are you trying to inspire all of these little tiny subnational governments and academics and companies and individuals for? Here we are 10 years later. We've become one of the most successful climate conferences in the world. Absolutely. And look who stood here on the stage. Secretary General Gutierrez of the United Nations, Prime Ministers, Secretaries of State, Nobel laureates, Dreda Thunberg, Jane Goodall, astronauts, leaders from the biggest companies in the world like Apple and Ford, and right alongside them, governors, mayors, students, scientists, people who run small businesses, and all of the dedicated environmentalists who have been fighting this battle for decades. We always believed in inclusion. We always wanted everyone together. That we believed that everybody belongs in this fight. Because together, we are stronger. Together, we are unstoppable. Every year, our reach has grown and grown and grown and grown from hundreds of millions of impressions across the media and social media 10 years ago to 4 billion impressions last year. Think about that. 4 billion people who have heard of our conference or something about the environment or how 7 million people die every year because of pollution. We got the message out there. It was fantastic, the growth that we have experienced. Now, last year, I gave a motivational speech. I told it that no matter who is in the White House, we have the power to keep moving forward. This year, as the kids say, I bring the receipts. The clean energy revolution is moving forward. It is unstoppable. A few months ago, the Environmental Protection Agency in America moved and roared back pollution regulations. Think about that. They roared back pollution regulations in America, the EPA, instead of rolling back pollution. Their job is to protect the people from pollution, and they did exactly the opposite. And people, of course, came right away to me and said, "Oh my God, Arnold, how are we going to handle that? Our clean energy fight is finished." And I said, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, not so fast." I said, "Let's look at the Rhodium Group and their numbers." The Rhodium Group is one of the most respected research firms in the country, and they ran the numbers. They found that even after the rollback, U.S. emissions are still on track to land 26% to 35% below the 2005 levels by the year 2035. See, the administration didn't stop us. They tried. Oh, they tried very hard. But we are unstoppable. You see what I'm saying? You know why? Because most of the real work was never being done in Washington in the first place. We have learned that we can't just rely on Washington. There's one time a Democratic president, then a Republican president, then a Democratic president, then a Republican president. This year it goes back and forth. And the policies change each time. So we've learned not to rely on Washington and to keep working ourselves. And the real work was being done by all of you, by the subnational governments, by the states, by the cities, by businesses, by the people who got off their butts and went to work, by technology and innovation. Look what had happened in the world this past year alone. Renewable energy now makes up almost 50% of the global electricity capacity. 50% of the global electricity capacity. In 2025 alone, the world added almost 700 gigawatts of renewable energy. The International Energy Agency expects another 4,600 gigawatts of 4,600 gigawatts by the year 2030, more than double the previous five years combined. Now stay with me on this one here. I love this one. In 2003, when I became governor of California, I remember a year later, we wanted to install one gigawatt of energy, of renewable energy. One gigawatt. It took us a full year. Now in 2026, 22 years later, we are installing that same amount of power in 15 hours. In 15 hours. So we went from one year to 15 hours. See, that is what unstoppable looks like. And clean energy is doing real work. Solar, wind, nuclear power, electric cars, the heat pumps. The heat pumps have cut roughly 3 billion tons of emissions every year since 2019. That's about 8% of the world's emissions already done. And what about China, the world's largest polluter? Last year, for the first time in a decade, the fossil fuel power generation actually fell. That's right, it fell. They're installing the biggest solar plants in the world now. They're building 10 nuclear power plants every year. So the world's biggest emitter is starting to bend the curve. Then there are the cars. In China, almost half of the new cars sold are electric. In Norway, 96% of the new cars are battery electric. See, this is what unstoppable looks like. And California continues to lead the way, no matter how much the federal government is trying to fight us. We fight back. We fight back just when I was governor of California. They keep fighting back in California, no matter what. And the great work goes way beyond California. How about Texas? They've installed more renewable energy than ever before. Massachusetts is mandating heat pumps and bringing offshore wind online. Uruguay, a small country, runs nearly all of its electricity on clean energy, just like Austria. You know how proud I am of those countries. It's just smart policy and the will to lead. And here is one that should make every fossil fuel executive very nervous. Very nervous. Maersk, the biggest, actually the second biggest freight company and shipping company in the world. They have at any given time 700 huge ships out there. They're delivering products all over the world. And we know that shipping is one of the dirtiest industries on the planet. And Maersk is going to be net zero by the year 2040, 10 years ahead of the rest of the industry. Think about that. They're building methanol powered ships. They can cut emissions by 90%. Let me tell you, if the shipping industry can move to clean energy, every industry can terminate pollution. 70% of the power to reduce pollution sits at the state and local level. We all know that. Not in Washington, not in Brussels, not in any of those capitals. It's with all of you. You are unstoppable. For years, the challenge of environmental movement has been to sell the people on renewable energy future. And we have done a good job to get the message out there. Today, people get it. They want to terminate pollution. And they've seen what happens when we rely on fossil fuels from unstable countries like Russia and Iran. They're not only unstable, but they're using the fuel as a weapon against us. It's not only unhealthy, it is unreliable. The people know the power of self-reliance. They're aware of that. Because we've seen it firsthand with the cell phones. Remember in the old days, when we relied on the phone companies, when now we're free. The people know that solar and wind and geothermal power gives them the same power that the phone in their hand gives them. It doesn't just make them cleaner, it makes them independent. It brings the power close to them. It gives us true independence. In a clean energy future, we no longer have to fear natural disasters or wars that would change the oil price and create havoc in our economy. In 2026, the people want clean energy. They want dependable energy. And you look around the world, of course, we have all of the solutions right there. All we have to do is stop talking and learning from one another and get to work. When I talk about learning from one another, it's because the solutions out there. Like I said, we in California didn't come up and dream up this whole idea about AB 32 and reducing greenhouse gases by 25% and upting the renewables. No, we copied a lot of that from England. And Tony Blair was kind enough to send his experts to California to help us write the law. So we copied England. See, that's where the action is. Just look around the world. What do you think? In bodybuilding, I created the curl. Do you think that I invented the bench press or the chin up or the deadlift or the incant press or the military press? I know a lot of you are saying, well, what are those exercises? But anyway, it just shows me who is exercising and who is not. But the bottom line is I copied other athletes, other bodybuilders that were champions. So there's nothing wrong with copying. So the solution's out there. So stop hoping because so many people talk about hope. No, no, stop hoping. Start changing. You need a vision. You need a strategy. You need a plan and you need a specific goal and how to get there. That's how you create action and results. It's about action, action, action. The Greeks figured that out 2,500 years ago. I mean, Aesop tells the story of a man whose wagon got stuck in the mud. He drops to his knees and he prays, Hercules, Hercules, please help me. Hercules appears and he says, get up and stop sprawling. Put your shoulders to the wheel. Well, we have the vision. We have the plan. And now just, we have to just keep working our asses off and put our shoulders to the wheel. Our job is to keep this unstoppable momentum moving forward and to bring everyone on board. Because the people believe that we can change. The people are right. We will build a clean energy future. That I can guarantee you. One city at a time, one state at a time, one university at a time, one company at a time, one person at a time. Let's put our shoulders to the wheel. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. [00:19:50] Speaker 2: So this will be our 10th Austrian World Summit. Welcome to the Austrian World Summit. Yes, we do live in challenging times. We do live in difficult times. [00:20:09] Speaker 1: Climate disruption is upon us. It's climate crunch time. [00:20:19] Speaker 2: It is not so much hope we need. It is action. The key ecosystem in my life is the forest. [00:20:36] Speaker 3: Now we have to go faster. We need to speed up our transition to renewables. [00:20:45] Speaker 4: Everyone deserves clean air, clean water. This hack is certainly a comedy made out of waste. And if something is your true passion, never give up. [00:21:16] Speaker 1: Heroes roll up their sleeves and they kick ass. [00:21:22] Speaker 3: Ladies and gentlemen, we are very much looking forward to this next panel and we have a special guest to moderate it. He started his journalism career in his hometown of Los Angeles and now he's becoming known not just throughout our nation, but throughout the world for his incredible reporting on CNN. He is a man who always knows what the story is. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Alex Michaelson. Thank you. [00:21:57] Speaker 4: Give it up for Matt Eisman, ladies and gentlemen. It is a huge honor for me to be here with all of you. Austria is so impressive. My name is Alex Michaelson. And as he mentioned, I host a show called The Story Is, which is relatively new. It's on at 6:00 a.m. here in Austria and at 9:00 p.m. back home in California. And I brought with me two of the best known Californians in the world to be my guests for this next conversation. Give it up for the 49th vice president of the United States, Kamala Harris, and the 38th governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Thank you very much. Uh, great to have you here. Great to see you. Um, so there are some Democrats that say Democrats shouldn't lean into the climate issue right now. Why for you, was it important for you to come here halfway across the world with a Republican governor to Austria? What's the message you're sending just with your presence here today? Yes. Madam vice president. Yeah. [00:23:19] Speaker 2: Um, first of all, I thank you, Mr. President and Mr. Chancellor for the warm welcome and the words that just spoke this afternoon. Um, I think that what Governor Schwarzenegger has been able to do over these 10 years is the short answer to my point that you made, which is this is an issue that impacts us all. Uh, we are increasingly as a world interdependent and interconnected. And when we think about one of the most pressing issues, that is everything from a national security issue, Mr. Chancellor, you mentioned that, to what we must do to care about the health and well-being of children, to how we can think. Mr. President, you talked about innovation and economies and growing economies. The governor has talked forever and done extraordinary work that is internationally recognized. Um, for, for recognizing the power of local, state, and federal governments to actually not only speak about the harm, but implement bold, innovative policies that within the lifetime of that office work can have an impact on, again, the economy, the health, and the well-being of the people. All of that to say, this is an issue that should be thought of as non-partisan. And especially in this year, 2026, it should be something that gives us a sense of encouragement and ambition, as the governor said, is where we should be unstoppable in knowing that there is so much that has already been done and can be done to make a difference in a way that builds industries and creates efficiencies and creates leadership around helping the people see what can be unburdened by what has been. [00:25:21] Speaker 4: But to that point, that there should be non-partisan governor in the last 10 years, it seems like everything has gotten more bars, uh, and including sometimes this issue. What is the message you're trying to send by having the vice president here, uh, sort of the big message you're sending to the world? [00:25:39] Speaker 1: Well, I think that the message here is, as you can see, we have people from the Green Party here, we have Democrats, we have Republicans, we have people from the Conservative Party in Austria, we have everybody here, because I always say that the only way we can really solve this problem is if we work together. So this is number one. Number two, I mean, Pamela, when she was Attorney General, did extraordinary work with the environment, I mean, it's one thing to pass environmental laws, but that someone has to go and make sure that it is going to be done, and that people don't pollute, and that people go and follow the law. And she, when she was Attorney General, she did an extraordinary job and really pushed back to the big polluters. So, to me, it, but I felt kind of like, I never felt like she was doing that as a Democrat, I felt like she was doing that as a public servant, because she was elected by the people to protect the people of California, right? So, and she did that. She fulfilled her obligation in a perfect way, and so this is why, and I felt that it was very important, someone that believes in that subject to come over here, And also Elizabeth did. I was a voter for her. Yes, you did. You endorsed her, yes. [00:27:04] Speaker 2: If I may answer the government, on the issue of what we will do to terminate pollution, and to save our planet, the policy must include, and my experience as Attorney General reinforced that for me, the policies must include accountability and consequence for bad behaviors. The other piece of it that I think is increasingly becoming important as we, and how we talk about the issue, is centering, as much as anything, the discussion around the needs of the consumer. You know, in the United States right now, politically, there's a whole conversation about should, you know, are people touching, and not really, especially camera, speaking with a loud voice about climate policy, and, um, and instead centering it more on the issue of affordability. And that may be true, and there may be political reasons for that, but there are also reasons that are firmly based on merit, which is this. When we think about the clean energy movement, um, thankfully, we are now at a place one decade into the governor's, um, convening, where we have proven that clean energy is actually cheaper. That is one of the reasons that I think this theme of yours, Arnold, about Unstoppable, is so right on point for this moment. It's cheaper, and it wasn't always the case. In this movement, there was a time where we had to convince people it's the right thing to do, even though it is not readily available, even though solar is the thing you may have to invest in, right? So, we can also center this conversation in a way that we think about the consumer of products, and how is it in their best interest when they're looking at their monthly bill. And right now, we can have a conversation that says to them, "It's cheaper for you." Because, by the way, that consumer, when they're trying to make ends meet at the end of the week and month, they aren't going to be so concerned with whether the electricity they're using is generated by solar or coal. They need to feed their children and put a roof over their head. But when we think about where this movement has come, and how we should feel excited about the trajectory, we can now say, "And it's cheaper." And it, in that way, is in the best interest of you as a consumer who has to pay bills. [00:29:48] Speaker 4: Well, gas has not been cheaper for a lot of people this year because of the war with Iran, which has been one of the biggest energy stories of the year. First off, if you were president, [00:29:59] Speaker 2: does that war even happen? So, are we going to have this conversation? I'm happy to. Sure. Yeah. First of all, this is a war the American people did not want. This is a war of choice. This is a president who has proven himself to be entirely self-indulgent. And we will see what happens in the coming hours and days in terms of the negotiation. And really, it's a concept of an agreement and where it ends up. But there is no question that there is a direct correlation between this war of and what has happened in terms of gas prices. It is estimated the average American has spent since the war started $500 more because of this war. And I will add to that number, to put it in context, the average American is $400 away from bankruptcy for any unexpected expense. So, $400 of an unexpected expense could result in bankruptcy for the average American. And this war has resulted in $500 more of expenses, a large part of that because of the gas prices going up. [00:31:22] Speaker 4: But to be clear, if you were president, you'd never start this war. Absolutely not. And let's be clear [00:31:33] Speaker 2: about this. Let's be clear about this. Thank you, Tim. Let's be clear about this. Whatever is being negotiated, this president is going to declare victory and will end up where we were after the JCPOA and call that a victory, the JCPOA that he withdrew from. The Obama nuclear agreement. And so you, you, [00:31:52] Speaker 4: so you're not, I mean, that's your thought on this, this potential deal? Well, I have more thoughts, but that's not why we're here. Yeah, yeah, sure. Yeah. To that point though, on, on what we've seen on the climate aspect in terms of this war governor, um, the, the Trump administration has used that and said, we're going to invoke the Defense Production Act because of, there has not been enough oil coming out of the Strait of Wormuz and have started to increase oil production in places like California because of it, uh, and are now looking seriously at oil drilling in California because of it. But your response to that and sort of the argument that some on the conservative side said that shows that this is the importance to invest in, in coal and, and old school energy. [00:32:35] Speaker 1: Well, first of all, let me just say that the current administration is pushing very hard for coal energy. So clearly they live in the past because the people are way ahead of them. This last month, for the first time, renewable energy from solar has surpassed the energy from coal. So it's for the first time ever that it has happened in the United States. So just think about that, even though that Trump and his administration is pushing for coal, electricity now from renewable energy from solar has surpassed coal. So this is big, this is the future. That's why I said here earlier, it doesn't matter who is in the white house. We are going to move forward. We are unstoppable. This is going in the right, we are going in the right direction because the people have learned in the meantime that coal is a big polluter and no one wants to be part of the 7 million people that die every year because of pollution. So it doesn't matter. Now when it comes to drilling oil, I mean, I believe that we should rather build, you know, create a law that says that you have to have solar panels on every warehouse in California. Because when you fly around with the helicopter in California, you will see millions and millions and millions of square feet of rooftops of warehouses that could have solar and produce a lot of energy, much more than the oil ever will. And it is clean. So this is the direction I would go. But I have to say, thank you. But I have to say that, you know, California is making some major mistakes in policy-wise because they make fuel very expensive. So our fuel is around $2 per gallon more than the average in the United States. And the reason is because the Californian legislators somehow feel like they don't want to have a refinery in California. So the refineries now go to Texas. So now you have to go and ship all the oil to Texas. Then you do the refining and then you go and ship it back again. But what do you think what happens when you ship? That's creates pollution. And so it is absolutely contradictory to what they believe in. So they're a little confused, which is not unusual with legislators, may I remind you. Okay. So, but I mean, the bottom line is, I think that it needs the leadership to kind of bring kind of coherency in there. And let's just say this is the direction we go. There's a lot of things like that we can do. And because the world is there, they are, California is for the environment. We are leading in the environment. We've been the first ones to pass the strict laws and everything with the help of this very same kind of legislators with the Democrats and Republicans coming together. And we did it. And we did something that was like, became a model for the rest of the world. And like I said earlier, we copied England. They were the model for us. How do you think about that, [00:35:53] Speaker 4: uh, vice president that this, the balance, because obviously there's, there's the goal to go more solar, to go more renewable going forward. But right now there's a lot of people that have cars that need to get around gas powered cars. And there's, there is a debate about what to do about oil in a place like California, other States like that. How are you thinking about that issue or, or this concept of whether there should be more drilling? Well, a lot of what has [00:36:20] Speaker 2: spurred the innovation, I think, is we've, we've been purposeful and intentional in creating incentives. And, and that is a, that is a cycle that feeds itself. I mean, the, the governor, for example, is talking about, uh, renewable energy and, and solar. Well, there was a time when we were having this conversation and the, the naysayers were right, um, to question, well, when it doesn't, when the sun is not shining, then everything just goes dark. What is happening? But now, because we have also created incentives for the innovation through, for example, battery technology, we now know that we can take advantage of the power generated by solar and store it. So it is no longer a function of whether the sun is shining or not, is it sustainable. And when we think about then this present moment, there is innovation that is happening on a daily basis, but we have to create incentives both for the innovators, the manufacturers and for the consumer. So there are, there is the work that we have done. Some of it has been undone, but around tax credits, for example, for EVs, um, creating tax credits for even used electric vehicles, right? This is innovative work that then allows the, the consumer to be able to afford the car where it's still a bit more expensive than a gas fueled car, but doing it in a way that then creates the consumer confidence in the technology and also the prevalence of it. It includes, I mean, these are mundane perhaps details, but critically important, having them fueling stations for EVs while we are building the technology. Now we are building EVs so that we can go about 300 miles. What would that be in metric measurement? Somebody will help me, but about 300 miles, right? Which before it was the shortest span of time. So do we have then the outlets for the fueling of those electric vehicles so that people can drive long distances? That is happening in real time, but incentives are critically important to changing consumer behaviors. [00:38:36] Speaker 4: And, and, and then there's all these sort of legal fights as well. Um, I have one more news a day question and I'll let you off the hook. Uh, last time that we talked on camera was February, 2024. And I watched that interview again and you predicted at the time, you said that if president Trump is reelected, um, he will use the department of justice to go after his political opponents. Uh, Governor Newsom in California says that's happening to him now and his wife. Um, if for people that may not know, the governor says that there is an, that the Trump administration, the DOJ is investigating him, especially his wife, Governor Walz. And your running mate says that there's a BS investigation. We don't know that much about it yet, but what do you think? Do you think that's a BS investigation? [00:39:22] Speaker 2: I've predicted just about everything that has happened with this administration. And you say I told you so? Including, include, I don't say I told you so. That's kind of obnoxious. I don't say that, but the reality is many of us predicted. Um, and it didn't require much creative thought because he told us most of what we knew would happen, including that he would go after his political enemies using the department of justice. Um, I, I am, so I am not surprised that he may be using the department of justice to go after a political enemy in the current governor of California. And this is why I do believe this upon many other examples of what is essentially, you're going to ask me questions about the current president. I'm going to be candid. What is essentially the most callous, corrupt, and incompetent presidential administration Americans have experienced. And for that reason, I have no question or doubt that we will win the midterms, and it will be a result of people of every background and political association who will contribute to that outcome. I mentioned to one of the officials here, it's important. And I say this to all of my friends here who are not from the United States. Please do know and recall that in the 2024 election, one third of the electorate voted for the current president. One third voted for us. One third did not vote, which means two thirds of the American electorate did not vote for this. And so when there are questions being raised among our friends around the world. Who are the American people? I think it is important to know and remember that the American people do stand, the majority of us, for the alliances that we have formed over decades. Do stand for the importance of the importance of America being, the chancellor talked about this, reliable as a partner, being an authority among many on important issues, including this changing climate and what we must do [00:41:41] Speaker 4: to save this dear planet of ours. And on that issue of the climate, Governor, the AI is the next big issue. And the big question about AI data centers, which use an extraordinary amount of energy, is something that lawmakers are thinking about all over the world. How are you thinking about that issue and how to balance the concerns there? Well, I think that the important thing is that we [00:42:10] Speaker 1: make everything more energy efficient. And I think those centers also have to become more energy efficient. I remember that when those flat screen TVs came out, they used up a lot of electricity. And then we passed laws in California where we said, okay, the new mixers and the planters in the kitchen, you know, stuff and the TVs and all this have to be more energy efficient. And, you know, five years later, they were. And as a matter of fact, I was telling you yesterday that on our hardest day, when I was governor, we used 52,000 megawatts of energy. It was on the hardest day when it was like all over 100 degrees and stuff like that. Now, the hardest day last year was they used only 43,000 megawatts. So almost 10,000 less. It's all because of efficiency. So we don't need to use all of that. But at the same time, we have to always be prepared to create more electricity. And I think that we have to just also think about a combination of renewables and also nuclear, even though amongst the environmental community, that's always a no, no to talk about nuclear. But the fact of the matter is it is clean energy. And we only had 4,800 death because of nuclear accidents. And there's 7 million people dying every year because of pollution. So therefore that pollution and oil and all the stuff that we're using every day is much more dangerous than nuclear ever can be. So I believe, I'm a big believer in that to build more nuclear powers. And I think that we have to really be careful not to let us slow down with the permitting process the way we have it in the United States. In Austria, for instance, they just passed laws here, where they said we're going to go and move very quickly. Now, when we pass a law and try to create more renewable energy, let's go into it right away, do our studies and then move forward and not have it tied up for years and years and years. In California, I mean, with the Anti-Inflation Act that they passed the Biden administration, there's some projects that would take 14 years to finish because of the permitting process. So who is this going to help when you pass a law and then you cannot move forward and you cannot go and build the solar or the wind or the stuff that you have put out there. And how is it going to help them with your inflation act when you cannot act immediately and start spending the money, put people to work and all of that. So it doesn't make any sense. So I think that it is very important that politicians in the future think about reforming this permitting process rather than kissing up to the trial lawyers and having them just keep suing and suing and delaying and delaying and nothing is getting really done because the will is there to do it. So it's just a matter of now [00:45:05] Speaker 2: following through. You agree with that? Well, I just want to mention the data center piece and what the governor said about renewal energy. I believe that what we should be requiring from a policy perspective is that any organization, corporation that wants to build a data center in a community, that they'd be required to power it with renewable energy. And that they also be required to invest in what has been a decaying for decades energy grid in America. The energy grid writ large in America was built in the 1960s and 70s. It is old and it is inefficient. And when we look at the specific reasons for then high energy prices that is among them, which is an old and decaying energy grid. So as data centers are being developed and there is a certain, you know, just ubiquitous nature of it, it's happening around the country. Tim, you know that. The question should be also what is the trade-off? Right. And what is the trade-off? Well, the trade-off should include that requirement that it use renewable energy so it is not sucking the resources out of those local communities and that they also invest in those communities in terms of the energy grid. Do you agree with him that permitting could be sped up a little bit? Oh, absolutely. How so? I mean, I say this as a devout and lifelong public servant. The bureaucracy in government is overwhelming in its ability to slow down innovation and progress. And when we look at increasing distrust that the public has in government, I do believe that is one of the reasons we seem we have taken on an ethos almost that prioritizes process over progress to our detriment. When we in I think most countries, but I'll speak for America, when we look at and ask why do the people not trust their government or its leaders? One of the most specific and obvious answers to that question is, are we delivering? And are we delivering in real time for the real needs of the people? And the basic need that the people have is to be able to afford life, which means raise their children, have enough to eat, have a roof over their head, be able to take a vacation from time to time. And when we're not meeting those needs, we fail and bureaucracy and then and and therefore what it does to delay the speed with which we should address the needs of the people results in distrust and also inefficiency. [00:48:13] Speaker 4: They're telling me to wrap up, but I want to ask each of you a question about the future, because that's what both of you are so focused on. First off, just on your future. There's a lot of people you've talked about that you're thinking about running for president, right? How is that thought process going? What's the process in that? And I know you're on a listening tour and I'm curious what you're hearing from people as you've gone around the country, what people are telling you that maybe you've learned that you didn't [00:48:39] Speaker 2: know before the process of of doing so? What people are telling me includes that they want to believe in systems and they've lost trust in those systems. What I hear a lot is that people know that at the end of this administration, there will be a lot of debris. I tell them often, I can't guarantee that it won't get worse before it gets better. But the one thing I do know is at the end of it, there will be a lot of debris and it would be irresponsible to then address that in a way that we only talk about what should we do? What do we need to do to rebuild if we do that with any sense of nostalgia? That would be irresponsible. Because the reality is, even before, there were many things that were not working for a lot of people. The status quo is not working for a lot of people. And what the people are telling us is that they want things to be better. And in some places, what that sounds like is we want that to be broken, but they don't actually necessarily mean break it through destruction. But they do mean it has to be better. And I think the people are right. One of the things I think about in the context of the future is Gen Z. I love Gen Z. They are in the United States, I'm not sure about here in Austria, they are a larger population than baby boomers demographically. They are between the age of about 13 and 28. They have only known the climate crisis. They experienced a pandemic where they lost significant portions of their education and socialization. And the thing I love about this generation, they are so beautifully impatient. They are not waiting for us to figure it out. And if we think about, as we invest in the future of our world, and we are unstoppable, if we think about investing in that generation, knowing, for example, that someone who is 20 years old today, based on all actuarials, will live to be about 100 policymakers among us, let's think about what are we doing right now that for the next eight decades of their life will plant the seeds for the majority of the life they have yet to live. That gives me a great deal of optimism about what we are capable of doing, if we think that way. [00:51:48] Speaker 4: So all that being said, does that make you more likely to...? Does that make you more likely to run, then? [00:52:00] Speaker 2: Well, no, you started by asking me what I was going to do next. And what I'm going to do next is get a soccer tort to take home. [00:52:06] Speaker 4: Okay. All right. Governor, to wrap up with you at your home here. [00:52:11] Speaker 1: I just want to add here a little bit something, if you don't mind. Sure. Okay, number one, she's right about the generation. They're seeing all my movies. So this is what I love about them. They're just there with twins and with Kindergarten Cup and Terminator 1, Terminator 2, Terminator 6. It makes no difference. Yeah. And so that's just really great. So I see it from both sides. How do we educate them so they go in the right direction environmentally? And how can I make them see my movies? Okay, so this is like, I always go on both tracks. Number two, you talked about her running for president again and all this stuff. I think that we should reveal that I was partially a big supporter of hers and voted for her because she promised me she would do immigration reform. Meaning that an Austrian born can also run for president of the United States. [00:53:18] Speaker 4: There you go. And last word to you, governor. You talk about action, being an action hero, having a vision. Everybody here, you got people watching around the world, everybody in this room. What's the action item for all of us when it comes to the climate? What can we do at a time when so many people feel hopeless? What can we do to get us into a better place? [00:53:38] Speaker 1: Well, I think the most important thing for everyone is, and especially the journalists and the politicians, and then the environmentalists, is to communicate better about this issue. Because you can talk all you want about global climate change, and you can talk all about rising sea levels, you can all talk about the polar bear and the icebergs melting in the distance, that all of this, that means nothing to people. But, when you talk about 7 million people dying because of pollution, and the amount of people that are getting caught up in hospitals with cancer, and respiratory kind of problems, heart issues and stuff like that, that is really a problem. We have to talk about that, rather than throwing around this kind of fancy names, that is only from one environmentalist to the other. The people are not connecting. I'll tell you an example. I was, when Kevin McCarty was the Speaker in Washington, he's a good friend of mine, so I visited him periodically when I was in Washington. And he was the Speaker, in charge of all of the Republicans in the House. And he says, "Come up for lunch." Then he called me a few minutes before and he says, "Do you mind if I have 20 of my colleagues join us?" I said, "No, not at all. Let's all have a good time." And so, I had a chance there to talk to those Republican guys. And I said to them, I said, "Okay, let me ask you something." I said, "How many of you care about and think this is a real threat, climate change?" Two hands raised up. Two out of 20. And they felt kind of somewhat reluctantly amongst the others. They looked around guilty that they raised their hand in the first place. Then I said, "Well, how many of you believe that we should fight pollution, that pollution is a real threat?" All of them raised their hands. So now, if you go to the Republicans and say, "Okay, let's fight pollution, rather than let's fight climate change," everything changes. And immediately now, you have people working with you, because you have something in common. Because the very fact that the Democrats say there's climate change, they have to say there's no climate change. That's just the way it works. But when you go and you talk about the health aspect and about pollution, that's when all of a sudden they started connecting and they were raising their hands. So it just shows to you the way it works. And even when we do polls, it always is like below 50% when you talk about climate change, what is the people's interest. But when you say pollution, it goes way above. It goes to 50, 60, 70% sometimes in the polls. So I think we have to communicate better. I talk about it all the time. I have literally seen Biden when he was doing his State of the Union. He was in the middle of the speech. And then he said, "Let me talk a little bit about climate." I said, "About climate? What about pollution? Why wouldn't you want to talk about pollution?" So to me the three minutes or four minutes he talked about climate, to me was a total waste. But here he has the whole world watching. So someone that wrote his speech should have known that the new way or the real effective way of communicating is to talk about pollution. We got to terminate pollution. Because when we terminate pollution, when we get rid of pollution, then there is no climate change. There will be no heating of the earth and all of this, the temperatures going up and the melting of the glaciers and the sea level rising. We got to go to the source, the pollution. And pollution comes from fossil fuels. So we got to go and get rid of fossil fuels and replace that with renewable energy, with nuclear power, with all of those kind of new technologies. That's as simple as that. To me, that is the issue that has to be addressed. And the journalists have to learn how to kind of shift gears and not continue talking about climate change and about climate and using orders, you know, climate justice and all of this kind of thing. It goes right over people's heads. Let's go down to the facts. Pollution, let's terminate pollution. [00:57:58] Speaker 4: And you do that so well. I always end on a cultural question. So real quickly, what is your favorite Arnold Schwarzenegger movie of all time? [00:58:04] Speaker 2: Terminator. [00:58:05] Speaker 4: Terminator. There we go. So we're all going to terminate pollution together in that spirit. Thank you both very much for the time. It is so great to see you. Thank you. Give it up. Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, ladies and gentlemen. [00:58:19] Speaker 3: Thank you. You know why it's warm in here? It's because that panel was on fire. I think we just heard breaking news. Kamala for president in 2028, Arnold for president in 2032.