Ecorazzi

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has obviously been reading a lot of Ecorazzi lately. Delivering a keynote address at a Newsweek-organized green conference yesterday, Schwarzenegger said the green movement will only gain a mainstream audience if it’s considered sufficiently “sexy”. From the article,

‘We have to make it mainstream. We have to make it sexy. We have to make it attractive so that everyone wants to participate,’ Mr Schwarzenegger said of the green movement.
Speaking at Georgetown University, Mr Schwarzenegger drew comparisons between the environmental movement and bodybuilding, which he described as ‘another passion of mine’.

‘Bodybuilding used to have a very sketchy image. As a matter of fact, so much so that some people that worked out seriously and pumped weights didn’t admit they were doing bodybuilding. But we changed that, we consciously changed that. And then all of a sudden, everyone wanted to exercise. It became mainstream, it became sexy, attractive,’ the governor continued. ‘And this is exactly what has to happen with the environmental movement. Like bodybuilders, environmentalists were thought of as kind of weird and fanatics also.’”

And honestly, that’s the movement behind Ecorazzi. Take the environment and show the glitzy side — the sexy side — that can reach a wider audience while educating and inspiring at the same time. I’m not advocating for lingerie models holding CFL bulbs seductively, but adding an element of “desire” beyond guilting people into it is important.

‘So the new environmental movement is not about guilt, it’s not about fringe, and it’s not about being overwhelmed by the enormity of the problem, but it is about mainstream momentum, exactly what I talked about earlier with bodybuilding,’ he said.

Talk about taking everything you knew about a politician and spinning it on its head. I love the way this guy reaches out to people in a way that doesn’t make us all feel like idiots.

Hit the source for more of the Governor’s speech.