Free Republic

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's efforts to make California a model for greener environmental policies will soon expand to a global stage when he meets with world leaders at a United Nations conference in September. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Friday invited the governor to the high-level meeting on global warming after the pair toured Echelon Corp., a San Jose-based company that provides energy-efficient networking technologies for residential, commercial, and public electrical equipment. Schwarzenegger accepted the invitation without hesitation at a news conference where the two dignitaries briefly discussed their shared commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption. "Global...

Sacramento -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon are scheduled to spend part of today at a San Jose networking company in which the governor has an indirect financial stake. The company, Echelon Corp., manufacturers energy-saving control systems and will host the governor and the U.N. chief for a morning tour and press conference where both leaders are expected to praise California companies and their efforts to address global warming issues. But Schwarzenegger, who has a personal fortune estimated at more than $100 million, also has a holding of at least $1 million in an investment fund that...

In August 2001, an audience got to see Arnold Schwarzenegger drive the M-47 Patton tank he originally drove during his short stint in the Austrian army when he was 18. Riding next to the turret was Paul Wachter. The photo op was part of a ceremony in which the tank went on permanent display at the Motts Military Museum in Groveport, Ohio. But, according to some of his critics, the tank ride with Arnold might be the perfect illustration of Wachter’s career. Wachter, one of the most powerful political insiders in the state, is the manager of the blind trust...

<p>Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Thursday he will turn to a privately funded commission studded with corporate chief executives and political supporters to advise him on how to create jobs, streamline business regulation and market state products.</p> <p>The commission, headed by investor F. Warren Hellman and Rand Corp. Chairman Ron Olson, will have a pipeline to the governor to offer suggestions on issues from foreign trade to unemployment insurance to environmental regulation. Schwarzenegger, who's contending with a budget crisis and costly workers' compensation system, said the group will help him "make this state boom again."</p>