Mark Ruffalo Talks At Occupy Wall Street, Pushes Pipeline Protests (VIDEO)
Actor and activist Mark Ruffalo joined other environmentalists at Occupy Wall Street in New York City on October 21, asking the crowd to join him in protesting the Keystone XL Pipeline on November 6 in Washington, DC.
"We are fighting against climate change. Climate change is real; it is happening now, not tomorrow. They want to keep us addicted to oil, to gas, to coal, to nuclear. We are the sunlight revolution," he said.
He said the Spectra pipeline was being built for international use at the cost of people's health and wellbeing.
He also invited listeners to join in forming a chain around the White House in November to "remind Obama to unlink his arms with the corporations, the gas and oil industry and entwine his arms with the people he is in charge of taking care of."
According to the Tar Sands Action website, "buses of people" from national occupy events are planning to head to DC for the event. Since the initial invitation, 3,000 people have signed up to attend.
In an interview with HuffPost's Tom Zeller earlier this month, Ruffalo argued that it is time to make room for clean energy growth. "The laws of nature tell us there's a finite amount of any substance on the face of the earth, and at some point, that's going to run out," Ruffalo said. "If we're smart and we have some grace and we have some willingness about our destiny, then we will take ourselves into the renewable world."
According to The Miami Herald, environmental motivations are also gaining momentum among occupy demonstrators in Florida. Protesters merged with environmental groups to rally outside Society of Environmental Journalists Convention this past Saturday.
Nathan Pim, who is part of Occupy Miami, told The Miami Herald he's "a proponent for environmental issues and the idea of unifying the two groups made sense."
Think Progress reports environmental themes, particularly climate change issues, are being featured more in Occupy protests around the country.
"We need to understand it's all a priority, because it's all connected. You can't have social reform without natural resources and the environment. It's a snowball, and it all affects each other," Stephanie, who received her master's degree in environmental sustainability from Columbia University told Think Progress in New York last week.
In an opinion piece for The Daily News, former chief economist at the U.S. Labor Department Diana Furchtgott-Roth said Occupy Wall Street can't fight for both jobs and the environment:
"The protesters' environmental campaign directly contradicts another of their stated goals: jobs. They appear to be unaware that inexpensive energy, which they deride, gives America the possibility of creating the jobs demonstrators reportedly desire. Hundreds of thousands of jobs could be created through projects they revile, such as the Keystone Pipeline, which would enable the shipment of Canadian oil to refineries in the Gulf of Mexico - and hydraulic fracturing, a new method of extracting oil and natural gas, including from the shale in upstate New York."
WATCH Mark Ruffalo address Occupy Wall Street in New York City:
View the slideshow below of prominent figures who have spoken out against the Keystone XL pipeline:
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The Huffington Post Bonnie Christian
First Posted: 10/24/11 06:59 PM ET Updated: 10/24/11 07:29 PM ET