The Guardian: Mark Ruffalo calls on Obama to ban fracking ahead of UN climate summit

Actor and activist Mark Ruffalo called on US president Barack Obama to ban fracking and make the US the renewable energy capital of the world on Tuesday.

Ruffalo made the plea in a press call hosted by Food & Water Watch, which released a report on Tuesday tying the controversial practice of fracking to climate change. The report comes days ahead of next week’s UN climate summit in New York.

“By stopping this fracking, it doesn’t mean that we have to go backwards – we don’t have to take an economic hit or lose jobs,” Ruffalo said. “It means moving forward with clean energy, the power of the 21st century.”

Food & Water Watch’s report summarizes recent findings about the environmental and social impact of fracking. It also condemned the relationship between the US government and oil and gas industry: “This creates an inertia that imperils current and future generations, and endangers our economy, as we face the consequences of global warming and the legacy of the industry’s pollution”
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