Hollywood star Mark Ruffalo lauds B.C. Green Party in leadup to election

Mark Ruffalo speaks at the Solutions Project garden party at La Plaza Cultural on Thursday, June 18, 2015, in New York. (Charles Sykes/Invision)

American actor and environmental activist Mark Ruffalo is weighing in on British Columbia politics, lauding the B.C. Green Party's stance on fossil fuels ahead of the Oct. 19 election.

The Hollywood star took to social media shortly after the B.C. leaders debate Tuesday night to contrast the B.C. Green Party's promises to end fossil-fuel subsidies and stop the expansion of LNG infrastructure with the Green Party of Ireland, which Ruffalo accuses of opening the door to LNG export facilities in the country.

The actor's post on X, formerly known as Twitter, linked to the B.C. Green Party's election campaign platform and tagged leader Sonia Furstenau, saying she and her party "show us what a principled Green Party looks like – committed to ending LNG expansion and fossil fuel subsidies, all while prioritizing people's health and well-being."

Speaking at an unrelated news conference in downtown Vancouver on Wednesday, Furstenau said her first reaction when she saw the celebrity shoutout was "swoon."

"We are in a crisis," the B.C. Green leader added. "Climate change is delivering devastating impacts, so yes, I was thrilled to see Mark Ruffalo not only endorse our position on LNG, but to share our platform with his whole audience."

The B.C. Greens were quick to seize on the star's praise, quoting his comments in full in a post on the party's Instagram account alongside a photo of the screen actor, who is perhaps best known for portraying comic-book character the Hulk.

"Sonia Furstenau took the spotlight in last night's debate, and momentum is building," the party said in a comment accompanying the post. "Even Mark Ruffalo – yes, that Mark Ruffalo – just endorsed Sonia and shared the BC Greens platform on X (Twitter)."

The party went on to say that "while the other leaders waffle on climate action or ignore it all together, the B.C. Greens position is as strong as the Hulk: no more fossil fuel infrastructure, no more LNG, no more fossil fuel advertising."

A Green Party of Ireland spokesperson responded to Ruffalo's claims about the party's position on LNG exports Wednesday, telling The Irish Times newspaper the party "remains fully opposed to a commercial LNG facility and is proud that no such facility has proceeded during our time in government," calling Ruffalo's statements about the issue "very misleading."

The Avengers actor is no stranger to environmental causes in B.C., having previously endorsed campaigns to stop LNG pipeline expansion and block old-growth logging in the province.

During the televised debate, Furstenau acknowledged her party would not form government after next week's election, but used her platform to slam the rival B.C. NDP and B.C. Conservative leaders for failing to address climate change with sufficient urgency.

"We have to respond with the kind of seriousness that this moment demands of us in politics, and we aren't seeing that seriousness from the NDP," Furstenau told reporters at the news conference.

"And then we have the B.C. Conservatives, who make jokes – their leader makes jokes – about climate change. This is outrageous. This is outrageous in the moment that we're in."

B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad was absent from the campaign trail Wednesday, with no public events scheduled, while B.C. NDP Leader David Eby was in Richmond to meet with Richmond-Steveston NDP candidate Kelly Greene and supporters.