Matt Damon: Hollywood Star and Environmental Enthusiast
A Hollywood actor and superstar, Matt Damon first rose to fame in Good Will Hunting (1997) and not longer after displayed his acting range as in has starred in a string of blockbusters, among the most successful including The Martian (2015), and The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999). He has also won multiple accolades, consisting of an Academy Award from five nominations, two Golden Globe Awards from eight nominations, and has been nominated for three British Academy Film Awards as well as seven Emmy Awards.
Not only has Matt Damon flourished in the acting industry but he has also been a fervent advocate in the environmental sector.
For starters, Matt is a co-founder of water.org, a nonprofit involved with fresh water in the developing world, and was also the host of Journey to Planet Earth.
In addition, Matt has starred and participated in several environmental films, one of which is
Years Of Living Dangerously, a collection of short climate change documentaries. This series from the YEARS project highlights reports from people who have been affected both directly and indirectly by global warming, with a crew of correspondents from the entertainment and news industries traveling around the world to report on the effects of global warming and what various people and groups are doing to find solutions for it. In this film, Matt's investigation about the impact of heatwaves is one of the many featured. He delves into the stories of several people who are suffering from heatwaves, one small yet perilous consequence of climate change.
Another movie that Matt has starred in is Promised Land, a film that shows the widespread effects of fracking, an oil and natural gas production technique that involves the injection of a vast mass of water, chemicals, and sand underground at very high pressure in order to create fractures in the underlying geology to allow natural gas to escape. Fracking, also known as hydraulic fracturing or hydrofracking, is a large environmental issue that leads to the destruction of habitat, water contamination, infrastructure and resources, and community. Fracking also contributes to fossil fuel usage, which further worsens the severity of climate change. Matt chose this issue because [quote] “Everyone knows that fracking poisons the air and water. We wanted to show how it tears apart local communities and subverts democracies and corrupts political leaders and eviscerates all the things that Americans value.”
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Matt speaking about his movie Promised Land
Matt was also part of a PBS series of documentaries that explores the current and projected state of the planet. He narrated Extreme Realities, one of the documents in the series, which captures the hazards of climate change while analyzing the national and political implications of environmental issues. Despite the film’s serious tone, a positive message surfaces: communities and individuals have the power to confront the problems and resolve the ripples effects of climate change together. Accordingly, the goal of Extreme Realities is to create awareness and encourage viewers to get involved in environmental campaigns.
Matt’s work has demonstrated that individuals and communities have the potential and ability to deter climate change, but action needs to be taken in order for that to happen.
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