Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger, hosted earlier this morning by the Columbus Metropolitan Club, spoke candidly and compellingly about his personal struggles, why he loves Columbus, the need for more bipartisanship in politics, thankfulness for our veterans, and his advocacy for a stronger American energy policy.
At a breakfast event at the Downtown Athletic Club, Schwarzenegger and friend/partner Jim Lorimer were interviewed (and interviewed one another) for a good hour about their friendship and life lessons. Without being asked, Schwarzenegger brought up his divorce from Maria Shriver. Asked what makes Columbus great, Schwarzenegger cited the unique level of cooperation between government and the private sector. Arnold’s key to success: be passionate and never let anybody tell you something can’t be done.
After the interview portion, the audience got its chance to ask its questions. Out of the box, Schwarzenegger was asked what needs to change about politics and government. Without flinching, he said that the inability of the right and left to come together and represent people instead of parties was the greatest shame.
Failure to develop a coherent energy policy was a close second. Becoming more animated and emphatic, Schwarzenegger noted that every President since Eisenhower has talked of weaning our dependence on foreign oil, but our consumption only increases, enriching our enemies and weakening our economy. Passionate about our health, Arnold is critical of the pollution emitted by fossil fuels. Recognizing that no matter how much we drill, our domestic resources are finite and will one day expire (leaving us even more helpless to control our own destiny), the Governator extolled the virtues of secure, renewable energy sources. Railing against politicians’ failure to develop a coherent energy policy, Arnold said America is like “the greatest ship in the ocean, but with no captain.”
What does any of this have to do with green building? One area where Ohio leads every state in the union, including Schwarzenegger’s beloved California, is in green school construction. At the recent Ohio Green Schools Rally, the Central Ohio USGBC Chapter hosted nationally-renowned keynote speaker Rachel Gutter, Director of the USGBC Center for Green Schools, at the LEED Gold eSTEM Academy in Reynoldsburg. Not quite the Arnold Classic, but it was the coming out party for the green schools movement in the Buckeye State.
Back to the CMC/ACC event, the most poignant moment might have been when an Afghanistan veteran spoke of how he used Schwarzenegger’s body building encyclopedia to launch a weightlifting club with fellow soldiers, and thanked Arnold for being such an inspiration. Again without blinking, Schwarzenegger thanked the soldier and launched a five-minute soliloquy about how the men and women of our military are the reason why this country is the greatest, and without them he would never have had the opportunity to immigrate and succeeed.
He finished the discussion by listing the various movies and projects that occupy his time these days, leaving no hint that the nearly 65-year old has lost any of his own energy.
Flawed and charismatic, Schwarzenegger sees great things about Columbus, and he’s still passionate about his beliefs about what we can do to make ourselves, our region, and our country even greater.
