Mark Ruffalo, US actor-cum-producer, has said that the world should consider President Donald Trump a “public enemy number one” for his stance on climate change.
Recall that there has been heated criticism against Trump for his continued denial of the urgency of climate change in the US, having made many claims countering widely held opinions on the matter.
In a chat with Sky News, Ruffalo faulted Trump’s climate change posture while making an analogy with ‘Dark Waters’, his 2019 legal thriller movie, which addressed chemical pollution.
‘Dark Waters’ detailed how a company repeatedly denied dispelling toxic waste that contaminated natural environments and inhabitants for decades in the pollution that later crossed the world.
According to Ruffalo, who made reference to PFOA, an industrial pollutant, more action hasn’t been taken to protect people from toxic waste — despite efforts from his likes in the industry.
“The world should consider my president as public enemy number one at this point. What we do in the next 10 years will be crucial to the future of the planet. And this is only going to become more evident,” he said.
“This class of chemicals is still unregulated, even though the biggest health study in human history — 70 thousand people — was done on this chemical. It’s the most studied chemical in the history of chemicals.
“It’s definitively linked to seven different major diseases including testicular cancer and kidney cancer. But we still don’t have any regulations because we didn’t know what was happening.”
PFOA, also known as perfluorooctanoic acid, is used in stain-resistant products like carpets and fabrics, nonstick cookware, and other products that resist heat, oil, stains, grease, and water.
The chemical, which can remain in the body for years, is said to cause increased cholesterol; harm to a developing fetus or breastfeeding infant while affecting the immune system as well as the liver.
Comparing PFOA to the fossil fuel industry, Ruffalo alleged that the latter has been “hiding climate change” while pointing an accusing finger at food systems and pharmaceuticals.
“It’s the same story over and over again. We’re being harmed so someone else can make a s**t load of money. And what the movie says is, it’s up to us,” he added.
“We can’t rely on the politicians. We can’t rely on the regulatory system. We can’t rely on the companies. They’re not going to self-regulate.”
Rufallo, who began acting in the early 1990s, gained global recognition for his role as Bruce Banner (Hulk) in the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero films like ‘The Avengers’ (2012), ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ (2015), ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ (2017), ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ (2018), and ‘Avengers: Endgame’ (2019).
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