BLITZER: The governor of California is a Republican who widely supports some positions embraced by Democrats, at least when it comes to global warming. So, that puts him in a bit of on odd position, aligning ideas with some on the left while taking heat from some of his own party. He spoke with me in an exclusive interview.

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BLITZER: And joining us now, the governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger. He's over at the Port of Long Beach on an important day.

Governor, thanks very much for coming in.

SCHWARZENEGGER: Absolutely. It's my pleasure.

BLITZER: You're doing everything you can to deal with climate change, although Meg Whitman, who wants your job she's a Republican, running for the Republican gubernatorial nomination. She says this about your plan. She says, quote, "As governor, I will work hard to protect our environment, but we cannot afford to hastily implement job-killing policies when 2.2 million Californians can't find work."

You want to react to her?

SCHWARZENEGGER: There was an assumption when I came into office that you can only protect the environment or the economy. You have to choose between one and the other.

I think that we have proven very well within in the last five and a half years that you can do both. And we have been very aggressive with that, creating jobs and protecting the environment.

BLITZER: I will take that as a you believe Meg Whitman is wrong in her criticism of your policies, but let's move on.

Are you satisfied or frustrated with what's been going on in Washington since President Obama took office as far as global warming and climate change are concerned?

SCHWARZENEGGER: Well, I'm very encouraged about what's going on.

I'm very encouraged about his executive order of trying to clean up the environment and reducing greenhouse gases by telling industries to reduce the output of CO2 and to go and really start regulating those industries.

And I'm very happy that we are also making the same kind of changes in transportation, because transportation, basically transporting people or goods, is 30 percent of all the greenhouse gas emissions. And then the rest of it, what he's talking about, reducing greenhouse gases with industries, that's 70 percent of the greenhouse gases that have been put out.

So, I think this is a really courageous thing. BLITZER: All right. I hear that what -- you're saying, Governor. It sounds to me like you're really in with Al Gore. You believe in what he's doing. You associate yourself with his policies on the environment.

SCHWARZENEGGER: Well, I'm not associating myself with anything other than with anyone in the world that is talking about, you know, reducing greenhouse gases and doing everything we can in order to fight global warming.

I mean, so, I am part of this whole movement, if it is Al Gore, if it is Clinton, or anyone else that is out there that is fighting this war.

BLITZER: Is it true, Governor, that you are regulating the amount of time your kids can be in the shower to help save water?

SCHWARZENEGGER: Well, to be honest with you, I think that if you don't start with the children, with our next generation, you don't have much. And I think that the kids should see that we are putting solar panels up in our hill in order to, you know, create through the heating of the pool and the Jacuzzi, that we shouldn't go and take that from the grid.

They should see that we are going to cut down on the amount of showers they take, because 20 percent of the energy's being used delivering water. So, if you cut down our water usage by 20 percent, which is the goal that we are setting in California, reduction of 20 percent usage of water, I think that all of this helps in order to cut down on the emission on CO2.

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