Actor Kevin Bacon is a climate activist who has chosen solar energy for his house and now drives electric vehicles.
This Earth Day, actor Kevin Bacon is bringing awareness to the climate crisis by talking about the environmentally friendly changes he has made in his life.
It all started years ago when his wife, Kyra Sedgwick, became concerned about global warming. She started reading up on the issue, and was especially interested in spotted owls, an endangered species. It inspired her to take action and to educate Bacon.
“She was way ahead of the pack — being concerned about global warming,” Bacon said. “My involvement came from her involvement.”
Bacon and Sedgwick have since become climate activists, hoping to inspire people to make changes in their everyday lives to reduce the impact of the climate crisis.
“We need to make personal choices,” Bacon said. “This is now.”
Sustainable homeowners
Bacon first moved to geothermal cooling for his house. The environmentally friendly process uses the earth’s natural temperature to regulate the temperature of your home. A network of pipes pulls the heat from a house during the summer and traps it in the ground. During the winter, the pipes push that warmer ground temperature back into the house.
The system uses no oil, less energy, and reduces costs for homeowners.
After Bacon made the switch to geothermal energy, his electric company was confused. They were worried there was no oil in the house’s tank, but Bacon educated them on the sustainable choice he made for his house.
Making these kinds of sustainable choices isn’t just a celebrity trend, either. Homeowners around the country are turning to cleaner and more efficient energy solutions. Wind and solar energy, for example, are the fastest-growing energy sources in the United States, and the prevalence of energy-saving smart appliances is expected to more than double in American households by 2029, per Statista.
Electric cars
Bacon’s most public sustainability measure has been his support of electric cars. In 2023, he starred in a commercial alongside his daughter, Sosie, for Hyundai’s IONIQ 6.
“I first went hybrid and then electric,” Bacon said. “I never looked back.”
As more automakers produce electric vehicle models, consumers are slowly getting on board. Nearly 1 in 5 cars sold in 2023 was electric, and the number is expected to rise in 2025.
Voting for environmentally friendly policies
In 2019, during President Donald Trump’s first term in office, Bacon called out the president for his environmental policies.
“I think it’s astounding how far we’ve gone backwards since he’s been president in terms of environmental law,” he told Buzzfeed’s AM to DM. “It blows my mind because in a lot of ways I think that the environment really shouldn’t be a political issue. This is the air that we breathe, the planet that we live on, this is the future of our lives and our children’s lives.”
Almost six years later, Bacon is still tired of the climate crisis being viewed as a political issue when it’s more of an “existential issue.”
“Children have to have clean air to breathe and clean water to drink, but [the climate crisis somehow] has gotten lumped into the left-wing political category,” he said
That’s why this Earth Day, Bacon said he wants everyone to do one thing to help the environment, because change needs to start with the individual.
“Put the phone down and walk outside,” Bacon said. “Get off a screen and look at how important it is to have these things in our lives. This is the most beautiful planet there is.”
