Schwarzenegger Sends Green Guru to Spread the Word

September 18, 2006 — By Mary Milliken, Reuters

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — If Arnold Schwarzenegger is one of the most influential leaders on the environment today, much credit goes to Terry Tamminen, the brains behind the California governor's brawn on all things green.

Tamminen, a Democrat and long-time conservationist, teamed up with the Republican actor and bodybuilder three years ago for his election and later became his top environmental aide.

Their efforts culminated last month in a bipartisan landmark global warming law that makes California the first U.S. state to mandate a cut in greenhouse gas emissions, equal to 25 percent by 2020.

Now the governor, who has accused fellow Republican U.S. President Bush of failing to show leadership on climate, is sending Tamminen out to convince other states to follow the nation's largest economy.

"What California is doing can be replicated by other states," Tamminen told Reuters in an interview Friday. "We can create over the next few years a de facto national policy on climate change and we don't have to wait for the federal government."

He kicks off his mission in Washington Monday, speaking at the 2006 Global CO2 Cap-and-Trade Forum, a meeting on carbon trading and emissions reduction strategies.

Tamminen sees momentum among states stepping into the federal void as many scientists sound warnings of catastrophe with a warmer world due to heat-trapping gases.

Arizona's governor signed an executive order this month to cut emissions, while Northeastern states are close to creating the country's first market for carbon dioxide by curbing emissions at power plants.

The Bush administration prefers a voluntary approach for business to reduce emissions, its main reason for bowing out of the 160-nation Kyoto Protocol which mandates cuts for developed nations.

But since California's groundbreaking law, Washington is flush with speculation that Bush could announce a policy shift on global warming.

"I don't know if next year President Bush will have a change of heart ... but we just can't wait," said Tamminen.

BACKED BY TONY BLAIR

Tamminen, 54, resigned as cabinet secretary last month -- a departure environmental groups said is a big loss for the state and its 37 million people.

But he has volunteered to head the environmental part of Schwarzenegger's re-election campaign in November. The governor has a 13-point lead in the polls over his Democratic challenger.

Although he has no plans to return to government, Tamminen says he "will continue to be an advisor to him (Schwarzenegger). I just won't be paid by the state."

Tamminen, who is also an authority on pool cleaning and a Shakespearean actor, came to Schwarzenegger by way of Bobby Kennedy Jr., a Democrat and cousin to Maria Shriver, Schwarzenegger's wife.

Schwarzenegger had just announced his intention to run in the 2003 recall election and Kennedy suggested Tamminen was the perfect person to help him build his environmental platform.

Their work won over British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who signed an agreement with Schwarzenegger this summer for joint research on climate in a clear snub to Washington.

On his visit to California, Blair pulled the governor and Tamminen aside and told them their actions on global warming were crucial to get carbon-intensive economies like China and India on board for the next round of emissions reductions.

Those countries are reluctant to make commitments if the biggest polluter, the United States, does not.

"He (Blair) said: 'What you are doing is so important, but also it is important that you spread it to other states, because I can only point to California for so long,"' Tamminen said.

Source: Reuters