Climate change has been a controversial topic throughout this year thanks to the presidential election. While many Americans are still going back and forth on the importance of climate change and what it means for our environment, many people including celebrities are shedding light on the situation. Actress America Ferrera has decided to dive deep into the issue and educate as many people as possible about the environmental hazard.
According to Latina, America Ferrera took a trip to Waukegan, Illinois, a town right outside of Chicago, where she got a front-row seat to an environmental struggle sickening the community. The actress/activist investigated a controversial coal plant in a largely Latino and Black area, and the negative impacts it's having on people's health and the town's economy for the season finale of the National Geographic Channel's documentary series "Years of Living Dangerously."
While many celebs choose to be vocal when it comes to politics, not many voice their opinions about the effects of climate change. Ferrera, who has long advocated on issues of climate change, met with a group of activists, backed by the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign, who are working to shut down the plant. However, despite the news of the negative impact on resident's health, the mayor of Waukegan has still kept the coal plant open.
Ferrera has been very vocal about her concerns and even shares her position on the lack of attention given to environmental matters.
"It’s important to me for the same reason it should be important to every single one of us," the actress tells the publication. "We are already beginning to see our planet changing in negative ways, and it’s also very quickly becoming not just an environmental issue but also a human issue. This is the only planet we have to live on for now, so there’s so much that is going to be affected by climate change that people don’t necessarily understand quite yet, and this series does an incredible job at showing the interconnectedness of climate change with everything that sustains and matters to us: our ability to live where we live and eat the foods we eat."
While president-elect Donald Trump claims that no one knows if climate change is real, the actress makes an important point about the effects of climate change.
"Issues of immigration, war and conflict will continue to be massively impacted by climate change," she tells the publication. "Climate change is not one issue; it’s so many different issues. It’s important for all of us. We’re already behind the ball, and to sit around and wait for this presidency or this administration to pass, we will only be that much further behind. And not only will we be sitting around and waiting, but I’m sure many of the practices that have caused climate change will continue and speed us up in a direction we don’t want to be going in."
The episode which focuses on coal dives deep into why its important for Americans to pay attention to talks of climate change. Ferrera, who has seen first hand the effects of coal is urging people to get involved in the conversation and possibly do more.
"Burning coal has had massive impacts on our environment, CO2 levels and on global warming," she says. The story I undertake in this season is mainly about the effects it’s having on the people who live in the communities where these coal plants have operated and where they continue to operate.
If you are interested in learning more about Ferrera's efforts with climate change, watch the season finale of "Years of Living Dangerously" on Wednesday night at 10/9c on the National Geographic network.
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