Mark Ruffalo: Ukraine war is 'gift' for President Biden's climate change agenda
Actor Mark Ruffalo claimed on MSNBC Reports Tuesday that the war in Ukraine has been a "gift" for President Joe Biden’s climate change initiatives and called on the president to "use" people’s "fear," "disgust" of the war in Ukraine and "energy prices" to push the transition to green energy.
Actor Mark Ruffalo claimed Tuesday that the war in Ukraine has been a "gift" for President Joe Biden’s climate change initiatives and called on the president to "use" people’s "fear," "disgust" of the war in Ukraine and "energy prices" to push the transition to green energy.
During a segment on MSNBC Reports, the Hollywood actor and climate activist talked to host Katy Tur about how to beat the "dark money groups," like the Koch Brothers, that are allegedly preventing America’s transition to clean, renewable energy.
"How do you fight against the advocacy groups out of there, the dark money groups out of there, that are out there that fight against climate change?" Tur asked her guests, who also included Environmental Defense Action Fund Board Director Kevin Johnson.
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 15: Mark Ruffalo of 'I Know This Much Is True' appears onstage during the HBO segment of the 2020 Winter Television Critics Association Press Tour at The Langham Huntington, Pasadena on January 15, 2020 in Pasadena, California. 697450 (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for WarnerMedia)
"I mean, the Koch brothers, there’s all sorts of dark money that has stopped solar energy in Arizona. Arizona, which has the most sunlight!" she added. She then asked, "So, how do you, with this campaign, cut through the mis and disinformation?"
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After Johnson and Tur discussed the question, Ruffalo broke in and insisted that the transition to renewable energy will happen whether it’s messy or not, and whether the Koch brothers are in the way or not.
He stated, "On the Koch brothers. Yeah, there is the dark money and that’s definitively an issue, but when you look at how quickly we are actually moving on this transition, when you look at how many jobs it's created… it doesn't matter what the Koch brothers say or do."
WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 22: The fire department uses a ladder truck to remove an environmental activists with the group Extinction Rebellion DC after they scaled the Wilson Building as part of an Earth Day rally against fossil fuels on April 22, 2022 in Washington, DC. The group is protesting Washington Gas's use of methane and their planned expansion of gas infrastructure. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Ruffalo insisted, "At the end of the day, we are going to win and we are going to transition over." He mentioned that the only question is, "Are we going to do it in a graceful way or are we gonna do it … kicking and screaming?"
Despite the tragedy in Ukraine, Ruffalo insisted that the war was a "gift" for Biden and his climate change agenda and said the president can use Americans’ angst over it to push that agenda.
Biden speaks at the COP26 climate summit. (Fox News)
He asserted, "This is a moment for President Biden to take this, our momentum, people's fear, their disgust of the war, their disgust with energy prices and--and use that to solidify a message to the American people that now is the time to transition.
"This where the jobs are, this is where national security is, and we’re going to keep pushing him to do it and this is a gift to the president as we see it and we see him accepting it in such terms," Ruffalo concluded.
Meanwhile, other climate activists have been concerned the war in Ukraine would be a distraction from climate change policy. NBC weatherman Al Roker worried it would "push back the initiative," while climate czar John Kerry bemoaned, "you're going to lose people's focus."