Peter Espeut

It just goes to show that you can't write off all politicians as useless when it comes to the environment! I spent last week in the U.S. state of California at a conference of marine scientists, and in one of the panels on the local situation we heard the remarkable story about the great environmental progress made in California under Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

He is not the first movie star to enter U.S. politics. Clint Eastwood was the mayor of the city of Carmel, and Ronald Reagan went all the way to become president. At the meeting, it was stated openly that many people just didn't take Arnold Schwarzenegger seriously. The Terminator as governor? The Governator! Come on! But in the last few years, he has personally made a big difference in the environmental profile of the state.

In a nation where the (Republican) Vice President has close connections with the oil industry and where the (Republican) President pulled the U.S.A. out of the Kyoto Protocol (to combat climate change) after (Democratic) President Bill Clinton signed it, Republican Governor Arnie signed a law in the state legislature forcing motor vehicles to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. This is in a state without much of a public transportation system, and which is based on the private motor car! It is often said that where California leads, America follows, and if this holds true, the U.S.A. as a nation will soon join the global movement to combat climate change.

But more to the point of the conference, Governor Schwarzenegger has implemented existing state laws which will result in the establishment of a chain of marine protected areas along the California coast. His predecessors gave verbal support, but it just never happened. Schwarzenegger spoke out (and campaigned) in favour of ocean, stewardship issues, and set a leadership tone; he created the expectation that it would happen. After being re-elected, he put the best people in administrative positions (i.e. he was not concerned whether they were good party supporters but that they were pro-environment), and then he got out of the way and let the stakeholder process of defining boundaries and reaching compromises happen.

There was political will at the top, and grass-roots pressure from below. The weak link, I am told, was the civil service - the bureaucracy; used to doing things the old (unworkable) way, they were the last to get on board.

Moratorium

After a serious oil spill in California in the 1970s, there was a U.S. nationwide moratorium (which is about to expire) on new oil and gas extraction; some of our group last weekend were able to find traces of that oil spill 30 years later. Individual U.S. states are now being asked whether the moratorium should be lifted so that new exploitation should resume. Fearing the impact of future oil spills on the important coastal economy of California, Schwarzenegger has written to the Federal authorities calling for retention of the ban on new oil exploration along the California coast. Interestingly, Governor Jeb Bush of Florida (the President's brother) has called for the ban to become permanent!

An important point to make is that the California public - Republican and Democrat - are generally environmentally aware, and the opinion polls show that more than 70 per cent want the marine environment to be conserved.

History is going to be much kinder to Arnold Schwarzenegger than to George W. Bush.

The California case shows that one man in the right place can make a big difference! This should be an inspiration to our Jamaican politicians. You, too, can be an action hero! You do not have to opt for unsustainable development!