Although still in its infancy, the USC Schwarzenegger Institute has already generated extensive media coverage in connection with its mission and activities.
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s next mission: taking oil companies to court “for knowingly killing people all over the world.” The former California governor and global environmental activist announced the move Sunday at a live recording of POLITICO’s Off Message podcast here at the SXSW festival, revealing that he’s in talks with several private law firms and preparing a public push around the effort. Politico Magazine
“It’s time that we wake up. It’s time that we wake up and talk about what really matters,” Schwarzenegger said, according to The Associated Press. “Here’s what really matters: that 25,000 people are dying every day because of pollution.” The movie star and former Republican governor of California called on climate activists to improve their messaging on global warming. The Hill
Movie star and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger wants environmental activists to give more attention to immediate health hazards like air and water pollution.Schwarzenegger spoke Sunday at a global climate meeting in Bonn, Germany, where diplomats from around the world are discussing implementing the Paris climate accord. PBS
WASHINGTON — Justice Anthony M. Kennedy has long been troubled by extreme partisan gerrymandering, where the party in power draws voting districts to give itself a lopsided advantage in elections. But he has never found a satisfactory way to determine when voting maps are so warped by politics that they cross a constitutional line. After spirited Supreme Court arguments on Tuesday, there was reason to think Justice Kennedy may be ready to join the court’s more liberal members in a groundbreaking decision that could reshape American democracy by letting courts determine when lawmakers have gone too far. The New Yrok Times
Hey, isn’t that . . . former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, joining the throngs at the Supreme Court on Tuesday morning as the justices consider a major case on gerrymandering? The former action-movie star, who arrived amid protests on the court steps, wants to terminate (sorry) partisan drawing of voting districts — an issue he has made his post-gubernatorial cause celebre. He was among the speakers at a rally sponsored by Common Cause, Represent.Us, and the Center for American Progress Action Fund. Washington Post
What does Arnold Schwarzenegger have in common with people in two Pennsylvania towns — Bald Eagle in Clinton County and Cheltenham? They all want the state to stop holding elections that were already decided before voters showed up at the polls. Gerrymandering, where district lines are drawn to favor the party in power, is so prevalent that even the worst incumbents rarely fear losing an election. But that could change. More than 90 towns and counties in Pennsylvania have passed resolutions calling for a fairer redistricting process. The Inquirer Daily News
Political parties and open primaries are the electoral equivalent of oil and water. They may coexist, but they don’t mix. So it’s hardly surprising that neither California’s dominant Democratsnor its fading Republicans have ever really embraced Proposition 14, the sweeping ballot measure that abolished partisan primaries six years ago. The Los Angeles Times
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Donald Trump have spent months squabbling over ratings, both public approval, and of the television variety. Now Schwarzenegger is incorporating policy in his critiques, inspired by Trump’s proposed budget to eliminate federal funding for after-school programs, an area of government that’s near and dear to him. The Sacramento Bee
Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is nearly 70 years old, probably thought his next battle would be against a mutant menace in a dystopian summer tent-pole film or an attempt to talk sense to some fool climate-change denier — and not a Twitter spat with the leader of the free world. Men's Journal
Thirty years ago, as the atmosphere’s protective ozone layer was dwindling at alarming rates, we were serving proudly under President Ronald Reagan. We remember his leading role in negotiating the Montreal Protocol, which continues to protect and restore the delicate ozone layer. Today the world faces a similar challenge: the threat of climate change. The Wall Street Journal