He's Back! Arnie's Austrian Comeback
He’s back!
After having fallen from grace back in the US due to revelations he fathered an out-of-wedlock child with a household employee, former two-term California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger decided to reconnect with his roots by visiting Austria this week.
Following a long absence, the Austrian media eagerly awaited Schwarzenegger's arrival. And unlike the media backlash resulting from Schwarzenegger's extra-marital affair back in the US, the Austrian press, public and political establishment were all happy to have their transplanted "Styrian Oak" back.
Accompanied by son Patrick, Schwarzenegger delivered the keynote address at a Vienna environmental conference, beginning his remarks in German instead of English.
To begin with he focused not on the meeting's green themes but rather on aspects of Austrian life and culture he misses in California — "the music of Mozart" and "a juicy wiener schnitzel". Schwarzenegger said while he had lived the American dream, nevertheless it was in Austria where “…he dreamt his first dreams.”
Addressing a capacity crowd which filled the lavish Hofburg palace -- former seat of the Hapsburg dynasty -- Schwarzenegger went on to deliver an impassioned speech touting the economic and environmental benefits of renewable energy.
Speaking to the conference's theme of “Sustainable Energy For All – Time For Action”, Schwarzenegger highlighted California’s leading role in the fast-growing green energy sector. The “Governator” even went on to suggest Washington simply “copy” California’s efforts if the US genuinely wished to achieve major reforms in the energy sector.
"We need to use arguments that people can feel," Schwarzenegger said during his opening remarks at the Vienna Energy Forum, a United Nations-sponsored seminar focussing on developing strategies for providing universal access to clean, cheap energy, while reducing carbon emissions.
He said his experience as California's Republican governor between 2003 and 2011 had underscored for him the immediate dangers of global warming. Other compelling arguments for pursuing clean energy policies include economice development, health benefits and national security issues, he added.
He credited green energy policies for multi-million dollar investments in the California economy which had created tens of thousands of new jobs, arguing sceptics should not deter efforts to develop clean and renewable alternatives to fossil fuels.
'We need to say we've had enough of the old energy model, that we're mad as hell and we're not going to take it anymore,' he said.
The three-day energy forum, which ran from Tuesday through Thursday, kicked off a UN campaign aimed at realizing three objectives over the next 15 years: providing world-wide access to energy; reduction by 40 per cent of the ratio of energy consumption to economic output; and making renewable energy sources a 20-per-cent share of the world's total energy supply.
Austria’s ever-kind treatment of its most famous exile bodybuilder/movie-star/politician/investment guru did not slip Scwharzeneger's attention, saying he was grateful to the fact that “Austria was always kind to [him]”
Following his 30-minute speech -- which was peppered with anecdotes and punch lines (“Hasta la vista baby”, “I'll be back”, “Simple message: Bang, home run ...”) -- Schwarzenegger went on to a “grip and grip” photo session with both Austria’s president and chancellor.
His triumphant homecoming led many Austrian political commentators to speculate whether the country's most famous export since strudel, schnapps and the Von Trapp family might be considering a return to his birthplace to extend his political career.
Certainly the current Austrian political climate would lend itself to a Schwarzenegger comeback. Given Austrian politics is currently dominated by youthful but lightweight figures (Sebastian Kurz), divisive populists (Heinz Christian Strache) and dull perennials (Michael Spindelegger), Schwarzenegger’s international profile, media affinity, edge and charisma would certainly stick out from the crowd in an election.