Julia Roberts has wrapped up her stint on Broadway and has moved on to a new project—she’s trying to save the environment for her toddler twins… and the rest of us. The Academy Award-winning actress has agreed to be the new spokesperson for Dallas-based Earth Biofuels—an alternative fuel.
“It’s very important that we expand our use of clean energy and make a long-term commitment to it. Biodiesel and ethanol are better for the environment and for the air we breathe,” Roberts said in a statement released this week.
According to the company, Earth Biofuels produces “biodiesel and is the exclusive distributor of Nelson’s signature brand of biodiesel. The soy derivative is mostly sold in a blend called B20, which is 20 percent biodiesel and 80 percent diesel.”
The 38-year-old actress is not waiting to get her feet wet in the new position. Roberts says she is currently working on a project to encourage 500,000 diesel-burning school buses in America to switch to clean-burning biodiesel. “The use of biodiesel is a positive step toward minimizing pollutive emissions and greenhouse gases,” Roberts said. “By focusing on school buses, we can affect the health and well-being of the people most susceptible to that pollution – our children – today.”
Earth Biofuels has had past success in swaying other Hollywood stars to promote their product. Roberts will join fellow Oscar winner Morgan Freeman and country singer Willie Nelson on Earth Biofuels’ board of directors.
Roberts’ new job comes on the heels of her Broadway debut this spring in a revival of Richard Greenberg’s “Three Days of Rain.” The mother of twins Hazel and Phinnaeus born in 2004 says she was inspired to “do more to preserve the environment” after portraying Erin Brockovich (a role that won her an Oscar), the single mother who uncovered illegal dumping of toxic waste by the Pacific Gas & Electric company.