Arnold Schwarzenegger mocks Trump on coal policy

Former California Governor and famous movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger has mocked US President Donald Trump and urged him to abandon his impractical desire to "rescue the coal industry".

Schwarzenegger described Trump's efforts on coal industry as to "save an industry that is poisoning the environment" and compared it to a desperate attempt to rescue other relics from America's past like Blockbuster, Xinhua reported.

"It is foolish to bring back laughable, outdated technology to suit your political agenda," Schwarzenegger said, "I mean, what are you going to bring back next? Floppy disks? Fax machines? Beanie Babies? Beepers? Or Blockbuster? Think about it. What if you tried to save Blockbuster?"

Blockbuster, used to be the biggest home movie and video game rental services company in the US with more than 4,500 stores nationwide at its peak in 2004, had to file for bankruptcy protection in 2010 under competition from the online video on demand services provided by Netflix and others.

"So President Trump, I know you really want to be an action hero, right?" Schwarzenegger said, "So you're only supposed to go back in time to protect future generations. But your administration attempts to go back in time to rescue the coal industry, which is actually a threat to future generations."

"Coal is the Blockbuster Video of fuel sources," Schwarzenegger, a Republican who has frequently attacked the Trump administration's efforts to roll back environmental regulations, added "It is on the way out."

Schwarzenegger's latest video message addresses the Trump administration's plan currently under consideration that would force power grid operators to buy electricity from the struggling coal plants which are at risk of shuttering due to the increased use of cheaper natural gas and renewable electricity.

--IANS

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