SACRAMENTO, Calif. _ Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is launching a partnership with a nationwide network of environmentally minded state lawmakers to share ideas for legislation.
Schwarzenegger has said he hopes states continue efforts to fight climate change even though President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Paris agreement.
"America did not drop out of the Paris agreement," Schwarzenegger said in a speech Friday at the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators conference in Cambridge, Mass. "One man dropped out of the Paris agreement."
The partnership showcases templates for climate legislation, including several from California, and asks lawmakers to submit new ideas.
"You don't need (the federal government) to babysit you," Schwarzenegger said. "You can do it yourself."
Bonnie Reiss, global director of the Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy at the University of Southern California, said the former governor has been concerned about the Trump administration's broad efforts to roll back environmental legislation.
"He really felt the need to double down," she said.
