Arnold Schwarzenegger has urged the White House to emulate California in taking a lead in the fight against climate change, saying “it would be good for the whole world . . . if the US becomes the power behind the movement”. 
 
 The California governor told the Financial Times in an interview that he could sympathise with Barack Obama’s struggles in securing backing in Congress for national emissions targets. But Mr Schwarzenegger added “it would be incredible if America makes a commitment” that helps secure a global framework on climate change. 
 
 “America within 10 years could get 20 per cent of its power needs from renewables,” he said. “We have sun, wind – you can even now get oil from algae. There is a green revolution [in California] but the whole US could be leading like that.” 
 
 Mr Schwarzenegger, who flies to a UN climate change conference in Copenhagen this week, also called on cities, states and other “sub-national” governments, urging them not to wait for a binding deal before taking action to curb emissions. 
 
 “International agreements, as critical as they are, will never do enough,” he said he would tell the conference this week. 
 
 “The world’s governments alone cannot make the progress that is needed on global climate change . . . they need the cities, the states, the provinces, the regions. California is the eighth largest economy in the world and also America’s trendsetter, so what we do has consequences. 
 
 “And we in California do not believe, and we do not behave, as if progress has to wait for Washington or Beijing or Kyoto.” 
 
 Angered by the refusal of the Bush administration to take meaningful action against global warming, the Republican Mr Schwarzenegger became one of the leading advocates for the environmental movement after introducing tough emissions and renewable energy targets in California. 
 
 In September Mr Obama’s administration said the US Environmental Protection Agency would adopt a vehicle emissions standard closely modelled on a standard first introduced by Mr Schwarzenegger in California. The state was also involved in the launch of China’s first greenhouse gas emissions registry this year. 
 
 The US president, who is also due in Copenhagen this week, is backing new EPA regulations after failing to push legislative targets through Congress. “[Mr Obama] believes in cap and trade and he believes in reducing greenhouse gases,” said Mr Schwarzenegger. “He knew that Congress wouldn’t ban anything – he’s stuck on healthcare. But I think [going through the EPA] is a wise thing.” 
 
 Mr Schwarzenegger hinted that the president would need the support of the US Chamber of Commerce, which opposes the EPA move, to secure a meaningful deal. 
 
 The California governor has become an environmental standard bearer for the Republican party, which is split on the merits of curbing emissions. Sarah Palin, John McCain’s running mate in the 2008 presidential election, has attacked cap and trade and questioned any link between man-made emissions and global warming. 
 
 “You have to ask: what was she trying to accomplish?” said Mr Schwarzenegger. “Is she really interested in this subject or is she interested in her career and in winning the [Republican] nomination [for president]? You have to take all these things with a grain of salt.” 
 
 He also addressed recently leaked “Climategate” emails that indicated some scientists had been selective in their use of data to back up their research about global warming. 
 
 “I understand there are mistakes made in the environmental community but I see [the impact of global warming] first hand, with the fires we have in California and the lack of water in the state. I don’t need to read all these statistics…I don’t make up my mind based on these findings, I go based on what I see here. I have no agenda.” ||||| Why is Governor Schwarzenegger pushing for the same sorts of policies in Copenhagen that have helped drive his state into record deficits and unemployment? Perhaps he will recall that I live in our nation’s only Arctic state and that I was among the first governors to create a sub-cabinet to deal specifically with climate change. While I and all Alaskans witness the impacts of changes in weather patterns firsthand, I have repeatedly said that we can’t primarily blame man’s activities for those changes. And while I did look for practical responses to those changes, what I didn’t do was hamstring Alaska’s job creators with burdensome regulations so that I could act “greener than thou” when talking to reporters. 
 
 
 
 - Sarah Palin 
 

– Two days after Arnold Schwarzenegger suggested her stance on climate change is based more on politics than scientific knowledge, Sarah Palin swung back, saying the California Republican should drop his “greener than thou” act. “Why is Governor Schwarzenegger pushing for the same sorts of policies in Copenhagen,” Palin wrote on Facebook, “that have helped drive his state into record deficits and unemployment?” “You have to ask: What was she trying to accomplish?” Schwarzenegger asked in an interview with the Financial Times. “Is she really interested in this subject or is she interested in her career and in winning the nomination [for president]?” Palin’s reply: “While I and all Alaskans witness the impacts of changes in weather patterns firsthand, I have repeatedly said that we can’t primarily blame man’s activities for those changes. And while I did look for practical responses to those changes, what I didn’t do was hamstring Alaska’s job creators with burdensome regulations so that I could act ‘greener than thou’ when talking to reporters.”