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Belinda Waymouth has resurrected the discussions with Mark Ruffalo from 2021 where she dubbed the transition to solar and wind as a “tidal wave that cannot be stopped”. The panelist made a statement that was not only new but also hot and even went to the extent of bashing the current policies so as to characterize the alternate of fossil to renewables energy as “absolute inevitability”. Her comments synchronise with the launch of her revival media show about nature, thereby, forming a powerful bond between the advocacy and the press.
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Waymouth’s words bring to mind her earlier talks with the Avengers actor about the “inevitability of the [renewable energy] revolution” which they discussed while the world was grappling with COVID-19 in 2021. Now she is referring to a “different pandemic raging”—the scenario of 2023 where the battle is between 5G and electric cars as the new COVID while solar and wind are the vaccines. Her remarks are very provocative and she dares the “dinosaurs” of the sector to “wake up” and realize that already the war is lost for them. The peak of the message is reached with her loud statement: “WIND & SOLAR it’s ON!!”
Waymouth is not merely hypothesizing. She is there with her argument built on real local changes. She unfolds her community story and says, “I’m driving home now, and I go pi. I go pi, a 3.5 megawatt solar field that just popped up here in the last two years.” This mental picture is her ultimate proof—the land reserved for fracking is now a solar farm supplying electricity to the community. She calls this peaceful rebellion the “reality that the media doesn’t capture,” thus putting her show into the mix of press forces that challenge the powers that be and realize the unsung success stories.
On the other hand, the comment section raised a completely different global issue that was the priority for most of the readers. While Waymouth was discussing energy policy, the listeners were very audibly asking for a talk about a humanitarian disaster. A lot of the comments were similar to “Please talk about Sudan,” and a user posted: “Talk about Sudan, for we are living death every day— in tens, in thousands. Our massacres and genocide are happening. We pray that our voices will be heard by the world.” The heavy use of the Sudan flag together with the heartbreak emojis visually communicated the opposite of what was mentioned in the original post.
This resulted in a very strange situation on her page. The disconnect was huge; while Waymouth was picturing a future green planet, the comment section was full of desperate pleas related to the ongoing killing of people. One reader did the following: “UAE KILLS SUDANESE,” thus attempting to connect political energy discussion. Another comment was from someone who purely ridiculed the entire celebrity activism by saying, “And u still drive a gas car you a freaking looser,” thus challenging the acceptance of the environmental message.
At the same time, a loud supporter of Waymouth and her cause did not hold back the praise for her and her partner Mark Ruffalo saying, “Mark ruffalo is The Only Hero ❤️, I wish there were more like him and I wish Arabs would learn from him.” This one endorsement highlighted the difficult position of public figures such as Waymouth who have to address complex global issues while still advocating for one specific cause. The elasticity between the online users has been a mirror to the present-day media environment whereby a single post can simultaneously confer a voice to a solution and, at the same time, attract unrelated, urgent, global suffering. Energy revolution of Belinda Waymouth has been supported, but by the audience’s response the number of crises all seeking a microphone is signaled.
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The actor’s recent work includes a new heist film and a politically charged project. His environmental activism recently extended to confronting the New York governor, and he has also shared personal revelations about nearly quitting “13 Going on 30”.