Mark Ruffalo Tells David Cameron He’s Wrong On Fracking

Mark Ruffalo warned Britain PM David Cameron he is making a big “legacy ruining mistake” by supporting fracking in the U.K.

Actor and environmental activist Mark Ruffalo has been protesting against gas drilling for years, and most recently called on Barack Obama to ban fracking in the U.S.

Speaking to Friends Of The Earth, Ruffalo addressed David Cameron directly, as the Guardian reported.

“Mr Cameron, you are making an enormous mistake, and it’s a legacy mistake, because there is no fracking that can be done safely,” the actor can be heard saying in a video.

Join Hollywood star @MarkRuffalo in telling David Cameron #dontfracklancs. Share & sign:https://t.co/wjhajAWYl9 pic.twitter.com/Rzqtgmwt3M

— Friends of the Earth (@wwwfoecouk) February 8, 2016

Ruffalo, who is nominated for the Oscar of best supporting actor this year for his role in Spotlight, has been vocal over environmental issues for years, and was most recently involved in a successful campaign to ban fracking in New York.

Ruffalo is one of many celebrities who has come out in support of Bernie Sanders, and regularly takes to Twitter to encourage his followers to campaign for the candidate, as the Inquisitr reported previously.

After calling on Obama to take action against fracking, Mark Ruffalo turned to the U.K. in his latest video, in which he accuses Cameron of going back on his word.

“Your people don’t want it. You’ve already told them once before that if they didn’t want it, you wouldn’t push hem to take it, and you’re turning back on your word.”

A 2013 survey concluded that there was enough shale gas in northern England to meet U.K. needs for 40 years, and Cameron has since then described fracking as a “real opportunity.”

But as a government research poll recently found, people in the U.K. are largely opposed to fracking and more supportive of sustainable energies, which Senior Campaigner for Friends Of The Earth Donna Hume said the Government is aware of.

“David Cameron is indeed turning his back on the people of Lancashire by ignoring their local democratic decision to reject fracking,” she said.

This comes only a few weeks after the Flint water scandal in the U.S., which Mark Ruffalo wrote about in the Washington Post, and according to the actor, this is only the beginning of a national water crisis.

In the U.K., it’s the region of Lancashire which is at risk of fracking as it is thought to hold major shale reserves. The Government supported fracking but was halted in June last year when local politicians refused to support schemes to drill and frack for a range of reasons. A new inquiry is set to take place to evaluate costs and benefits of the plans, but the Government still supports the fracking initiatives.

A spokesperson for the Department of Energy and Climate Change said they were “backing shale because it’s good for our energy security and will help create jobs and growth.”

Interestingly, Mark Ruffalo’s point is that new wealth and growth lies within sustainable energies, and he encourages governments to explore and research into those in order to invest in “the renewable energy future of the world.”

Ruffalo called on Cameron “to be a real true and honest world leader and leave the fossil fuels in the ground.”

Ahead of the upcoming presidential elections in the U.S., many artists and celebrities are coming out in support of their favorite candidate, with an issue that never ceases to grow in the celebs world: climate change.

Artists Against Fracking has united supporters for the past few years in the U.S. Founded by Sean Lennon and Yoko Ono, it now gathers more than 200 celebrities, including Mark Ruffalo. Below is one of their campaigning videos.

[Photo by AP/Mike Groll]