Q&A: Arnold Schwarzenegger - The Germinator

And we can always use this: Come on, we're from California. We've always been number one. We're the smartest. We have the best universities. We're the most innovative. And on and on. Let's show the rest of the world that we can come up with the best ideas. Let's kick some butt here. That, too, inspires people.

FC: How does California's size--36 million residents and a $1.5 trillion economy, the world's sixth largest--affect your expectations for the impact that solutions like the climate-change law can have?

Schwarzenegger: What we are trying to do is show leadership in this area. If you look at the globe, you see California as a tiny box geographically speaking. But if you look at the power and influence of California, it immediately changes the picture. We have this huge name. This is what I want to benefit from to get the ball rolling all over the world.

I just got a call this morning from Germany. I was on the cover of a magazine, and the story was, How is it that California is able to combine green with business? This is unheard of in Germany. The conservative party, the business-aligned party, would never ever line itself up with the environmentalists. What we're doing inspires them to find a way to sit at the same table and discuss the issues. I get stories from all over world. Whenever they write about the environment, they use California as an example.

FC: Tell us about some of the companies that are going after the clean-tech market you're trying to stimulate.

Schwarzenegger: There are hundreds of companies that are moving in that direction. In the next month or so, I'll do what we call a "green tour" and visit companies all over California that have new concepts. I want to see how the factories work and let them explain what they're doing, why they're profitable, how they are going to market. You get firsthand knowledge.

For instance, we're going to inspect maglev delivery systems being developed in San Diego to move containers inland from the ports ["maglev" is shorthand for magnetically levitated trains. They travel up to 300 mph and are pollution-free, but it costs about $100 million a mile to construct a system for freight]. We can't get goods out of the ports fast enough, because the trucks get stuck in traffic. This way, we would not use freeways.

Forty-two percent of all containers coming into the U.S. are coming through our ports. We are the gateway to the Asian economy. During our trip to Japan, one of the first things Prime Minister Koizumi told me was to get the ships unloaded quicker. If cargo gets unloaded right away, we can deliver more and ship more. Everybody can make more money. But if it waits for weeks to get unloaded, that is a loss of money. The Japanese made it clear they can send those ships to Canada or Portland or Seattle or Mexico. We want them to come here so we can create jobs and benefit from that. To do that, you have to always think of new technology.

FC: Your policies are rather contentious. The Environmental Protection Agency is refusing to regulate greenhouse-gas emissions in California, and automakers are suing the state over proposed emissions rules. How do you deal with the resistance?

Schwarzenegger: First of all, you should never say, I can't believe all the obstacles we're facing. Every time there's some new idea about anything, you will have people who despise any change. They love to hang on to the status quo. They will fight and they will take it to court. You have to expect it. The car companies have, you know, 25,000 lawyers, and this is what they do. We said, "Look guys, we understand, but eventually you've got to come our way, because it's the best way to go."

We included them in the car show and said, "Why don't we all stand together on stage and celebrate the great accomplishment of the car companies?" They are moving slowly in the right direction with cars that get more mileage. Cars that drive on alternative fuel. Cars that charge on batteries. I didn't bite and talk about the lawsuit. I said, Look, guys, you do what you need to do, but remember we are your friends. We want you to succeed. We want you to sell twice as many cars in California, but clean cars. I think we can do it. Last year we had three cars at the car show with alternative fuel. This year, we had 18.

FC: What's the hardest part of this public-private approach?

Schwarzenegger: Things take longer than if you're just in the private sector, because you're working with so many entities--people from both parties, the federal government. That makes it much more difficult to move things along and get a consensus. But that's part of the job. That's the beauty of the job. The bigger the obstacles, the more fun it is for me. Because anyone can overcome little obstacles. To overcome the big ones, it's a huge challenge. If you have the personality that enjoys that, then you enjoy this job. For me, it's inspirational to have big goals. You can have a tremendous impact on people's lives.