Hulk Smash Hydrofracking!

It’s no secret that actors have superhero-sized egos – especially when they actually play a superhero.  Case in point:  Mark Ruffalo, who picked up an Academy Award nomination for his role in last year’s Oscar-bait The Kids Are All Right, and who has now thrown himself into the role of his career – The Incredible Hulk.

Ruffalo will be the latest actor to portray Marvel Comics’ Jolly Green Giant in next year’s big budget spectacular, The Avengers, which will bring the cinematic versions of Marvel’s characters, including Robert Downey, Jr.’s Iron Man, together to save Earth from an intergalactic menace.

But Ruffalo the actor has an enemy in his crosshairs more insidious than any supervillain:  Hydraulic fracturing.  Yep, the process by which natural gas is extracted from rock via pressurized fluid, commonly known as “fracking,” has aroused the especial ire of the environmentalists, Ruffalo included. On November 30th The Capitol reported:

Actor Mark Ruffalo says his leading role in fighting hydrofracking in New York bears more than a passing resemblance to his leading role in the new Avengers movie. “The great thing about the Avengers and our superhero mythology is that they are people that fight for the common man over impossible odds, and for the betterment of the whole,” said Ruffalo, who plays the Incredible Hulk. “So in some ways, that whole mythology feeds into what I’m trying to do here.”  Ruffalo and actress Debra Winger will bring their star power to today’s Department of Environmental Conservation hearings on hydrofracking in Tribeca, saying the natural gas drilling technique will harm New York City’s water and air even if drilling is barred from the city’s watershed. “It still seems like it’s gathering critical mass,” he said. “We’re seeing record numbers of people showing up to the DEC hearings throughout the state.”

Now, Ruffalo is a fine actor, and I personally can’t wait to see his Hulk smash next summer.  But this is utterly ridiculous.  The “common man” he believes himself championing is being continually squeezed by high energy prices, but a wealthy man like Ruffalo is above such petty concerns.  He doesn’t have to worry about being able to afford to heat and light his home, but millions of low and middle-income Americans do.

Also, there are plenty of unemployed “common men” who would love to work for companies trying to bring new sources of energy to market, but again, the actor is above such concerns – unless The Avengers bombs at the box office (unlikely), sequel-crazy Hollywood will likely guarantee Ruffalo employment as The Hulk for years to come.

The most pathetic aspect of Ruffalo’s self-aggrandizement, however, is his portrayal of himself as the underdog in this titanic struggle.  Please.  With the Environmental Protection Agency, myriad state and local agencies, the entire Democratic Party, and a worldwide coalition of anti-fossil fuel enviro groups standing in the way of any sensible energy policy (which would include, you know, actually exploiting our energy resources), the companies brave enough to actually try and find and extract natural gas are if anything the heroic underdogs.

If Hulk really wants to fight for “the common man”, he should take on Greenpeace in a battle of the Emerald Behemoths. But don’t hold your breath.