Schwarzenegger slams Germany, praises U.S., on nuclear

Actor and politician Arnold Schwarzenegger recently criticized Germany for shutting down its remaining nuclear power plants last year. Speaking in June in his native Austria at the 2024 Austrian World Summit, a climate conference held in Vienna, Schwarzenegger noted the contradiction of the German government's stated goal of cutting carbon emissions while simultaneously eliminating the clean-energy source of nuclear power.

"It's unbelievable": In his speech, Schwarzenegger stated, "In Germany, they set an ambitious goal to cut pollution by 65 percent by the year 2030. By 65 percent! That's a huge goal. It's unbelievable, but one-third of their wind projects are being delayed by their permitting process, and on top of that, they closed the nuclear power plants that provide 6 percent of their clean energy."

He continued, "You say, 'Wait a minute, how are they going to replace this clean energy?' Well, they really don't know, but they know one thing: They have to keep the coal burning."

"Being sane": In his remarks, Schwarzenegger praised the United States for supporting nuclear energy and reversing the planned closure of Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant in California. He said, "It was supposed to close in 2024, but no, President Biden said, 'Wait a minute.' Governor Newsom said, 'Wait a minute. This is giving us clean energy. Let's keep it open. Let's refurbish it, modernize it, spend a billion dollars to make sure it's safe.' Now they've kept it open for years to come because it's providing clean energy for California, 9 percent of clean energy. So why would we shut it down? See, that's being sane."

Climate initiative: The veteran actor and former governor of California was at the summit promoting his eponymous Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative. He launched the Vienna-based effort, along with the annual Austrian World Summit, in 2017 with Monika Langthaler, a former member of the Austrian parliament who now serves as the initiative's managing director. The climate initiative is designed to raise awareness of climate change and clean-energy solutions and to help achieve the goal of economic decarbonization by 2050.

It also seeks to join sustainable technical and policy efforts with financial resources by serving as a "matchmaker" for businesses, financiers, nongovernmental organizations, and local and national governments. The Austrian World Summit serves as the main annual platform for the initiative's work.