Local politicians could be in for a busy few days of phone calls from constituents after Hollywood actor Mark Ruffalo called on the people of Northern Ireland to get in touch with their MLAs and put the pressure on them to ban fracking.

Speaking at a Friends of the Earth-organised webinar alongside local anti-fracking activist, Diane Little, Mr. Ruffalo – latterly known all around the world for his role in several Marvel films – described how his heart was pounding listening to Ms. Little as he was “reliving a trauma” that his community faced in 2010 as he spoke out against his experience of fracking companies in America.

“What I came to understand was that almost nothing that came out of their mouths was true; that almost everything they said was a lie,” he claimed, as he spoke online in the webinar.

Continuing, the Hollywood actor said: “ Almost every policy they enacted was one of divisiveness, and it was a bitter, bitter fight that we engaged in.

“And I want to say to you off the bat, from what I am just hearing, you’re being invited into a trap – and it’s a trap that’s gamed for people like you to lose.,” he claimed.

“You’re being targeted as a sacrificial zone for the rest of Europe. They come into communities that are suffering, that have been exposed to trauma, that are easily divided. They target communities like yours to take advantage of you,” he claimed.

READ MORE: ‘NI ministers need to have the courage to stand up and reject petroleum licensing’

Turning his focus on politicians, Mr. Ruffalo continued: “These [exploratory] licences are a ploy to pry their way into your communities, and that’s why its so important that groups like us come together, like today, and we say that we are not going to fall for false promises from our politicians; it’s not going to happen.

“So we need to keep our eye on the prize. Ban the petroleum licensing, and the companies can’t apply for the permits, and this nightmare that the people in Northern Ireland have been dealing with ... can stop.

“Please get on the phone ... call your MLAs and make sure the [Northern Ireland] Executive votes to ban the petroleum licences and stop fracking once and for all on your beautiful island.

“Let’s move forward, let’s not move back.”

Mr. Ruffalo said it is now time for the fossil fuel industry to step aside, and now is the time to look at a Greener era of energy.

He said: “I want to thank the fossil fuel industry for bringing us to this place. Thank you very much, but now it’s time for us to take the technology, to take what we have built, to take the beautiful minds and scientists and things that can take us beyond the fossil fuel era.

READ MORE: Bill will bring an end to threat of fracking– Áine Murphy

“We are there now, so step aside, fossil fuel industry, and let us have the future that rightfully belongs to our children from the work that so many people put into moving away from you.”

And for Sinn Féin’s leader, Mary Lou McDonald, the Hulk star had this to say, as he called on her not to support fracking: “Mary Lou, don’t make the mistake that so many politicians went down on, here in New York and Pennsylvania.

“It has destroyed so many careers; the outcome is always bad, and it will always be on your shoulders, and that means on the legacy of your name and your family’s name.

“All the money in the world doesn’t do anything to stop the amount of pain and suffering that will be put upon the people who will be forced to live with this on the front lines [if fracking proceeds in Northern Ireland],” he added.