Movie star turned governor turned honorary ranger of the U.S. Forest Service Arnold Schwarzenegger doesn't speak for the trees, an investigation alleges.
As part owner of investment company Dimensional Fund Advisers, according to a report released Tuesday by the group Global Witness, Schwarzenegger has financial ties to some of the world's most destructive logging companies. The Guardian reports:
A number of those forestry companies were implicated in highly destructive and illegal logging which has destroyed rainforest and critical orangutan habitat in Borneo, and fuelled conflict and arms trafficking in Liberia, the investigators from Global Witness said.
The group, whose founder won this year’s $1 million TED prize for its campaigns, said the holdings were at odds with Schwarzenegger’s public image as a climate champion. Tropical forests are an important store of carbon that would otherwise accelerate climate change.
“He is a very prominent environmental champion in his public life while profiting from some of the most egregiously notorious companies operating in the forestry sector, and in our view that is deeply hypocritical, ” said Oliver Courtney, a Global Witness spokesman.
....Global Witness said their research indicated Schwarzenegger held an estimated 5% stake in the firm, which manages an estimated $338 billion globally.
Those holdings included $174 million in about 20 forestry companies. Global Witness has questioned the allegedly destructive activities of some of those firms.
To fully understand how non-environmentally friendly Schwarzenegger's involvement with this firm is, you've got to check out this animation put together by Global Witness. Sure, it misses most of the nuance of the situation, but it makes up for it with a killer voice impersonation:
Shares