VIENNA — Amid concerns over the environmental stance of the current U.S. administration, Arnold Schwarzenegger has issued a call-to-action to environmentalists: “Stop whining and get to work.”
Under the direction of President Donald Trump, the administration has drastically altered the environmental policies established during Biden’s term, dismantling key regulations, pulling financial support from climate initiatives, and prioritizing increased oil and gas production with an “American energy dominance” strategy.
Since stepping down as the Republican governor of California in 2011, Schwarzenegger has been actively involved in environmental advocacy. Recently, he noted that environmentalists often question the worth of their efforts given the government’s dismissal of climate change and promotion of fossil fuels like coal and oil.
Addressing these concerns at the Austrian World Summit in Vienna, a platform he helps organize, Schwarzenegger urged attendees to take proactive steps rather than succumb to defeatism, emphasizing, “Stop whining and get to work.”
He highlighted the actions taken by local and regional entities, including initiatives from his own California administration, asserting that a significant portion of pollution reduction occurs at the community or state level.
He encouraged leaders to drive change: “Be the mayor that makes buses electric; be the CEO who ends fossil fuel dependence; be the school that installs solar panels,” he advised.
Schwarzenegger emphasized that blame or criticism aimed at the president is unproductive, especially when voiced from abroad. He stated, “Attacking the president is not my style. I do not criticize any president when outside the U.S.”
He concluded with a message of urgency and positivity, expressing public fatigue over continuous negativity: “I know that the people are sick and tired of the whining and the complaining and the doom and gloom. The only way we win the people’s hearts and minds is by showing them action that makes their lives better.”