SACRAMENTO – In the latest promotion of his environmental agenda, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is scheduled to make an appearance Sunday on the popular MTV show "Pimp My Ride."
The actor turned politician uses the opportunity to praise the show's hosts, rapper Xzibit and Mad Mike, for showcasing what he describes as an environmentally hip project. It is the latest environmentally themed event for Schwarzenegger, who continues to generate international attention for signing a landmark global warming law last year.
For the show, mechanics converted a 1965 Chevy Impala, installing an 800 horsepower engine that runs on biodiesel fuel and goes from zero to 60 mph (96 kilometers) in three seconds. The governor said the converted car's emissions of greenhouse gases will be 50 percent lower.
"We take this cool show and they did something, and added something that was environmentally hip," Schwarzenegger recently told a student crowd at Georgetown University.
The show was taped previously and will air Sunday as part of a special Earth Day episode.
Although biodiesel is considered cleaner than traditional gasoline, it is not a solution advocated by most scientists and environmentalists, who favor more fuel-efficient vehicles.
"At the end of the day, if we're going to switch from guzzling gasoline to guzzling alcohol, we're not going to solve our climate problems," said Patricia Monahan, deputy director of the clean vehicles program with the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Schwarzenegger has sought to remake his image on the environment. When he ran for governor in 2003, he was criticized for popularizing the gas-guzzling Hummers. He has since reduced his Hummer fleet to four, two of which he says have since been converted to run on alternative fuels. One runs on hydrogen and the other runs on biofuel, according to Schwarzenegger's office.
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