Well, now an Academy Award-nominated actor is tweeting with the Oklahoma-based energy company.

New York state resident Mark Ruffalo, an actor in “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” “Zodiac,” “Shutter Island” and “The Kids Are All Right,” is an outspoken critic of hydraulic fracturing (or “fracking”) and screened the “GasLand” doc in Pennsylvania in 2010. (He subsequently claimed that state’s Office of Homeland Security placed him on a terrorist watch list, according to FoxNews.com. CFN is unsure if any black helicopters were involved.)

Meanwhile, speaking at a January summit of the Independent Oil and Gas Association in West Virginia, Chesapeake CEO Aubrey McClendon was quoted in the Charleston (W.Va.) Daily Mail that the Marcellus Shale would play a key part in that state’s future. Industry leaders claimed its natural gas reserves would be a bigger boon than coal mining in the next century.

McClendon said West Virginia’s regulatory environment is much different than in Pennsylvania, according to the Pulitzer Prize-winning Daily Mail.

“You’re just that much farther away from the lunacy of New York City that you’re able to think clearly,” he reportedly said. “Some of your relations in Pennsylvania don’t have that ability.”

Then the tweeting began on Feb. 8 (presented here unedited) between Ruffalo and Chesapeake:

“@chesapeake NG calls people lunatics for Insisting that your industry does not poisoning our water, land and air. Shame on you. Shame.”

“@Mruff221 Thanks for connecting with us, Mark. And congrats on your Oscar nod. To what are you referring re: ‘lunatics’ comment?”

“@Chesapeake If there are no problems with Gas drilling, why are there so many problems with gas drilling?”

“@Mruff221 From the context of the article, it’s clear that Aubrey’s lunacy comment was made in jest.”

“@Mruff221 We take pride in our proactive approach to environmental health and safety not to mention going above and beyond what regs require”

“@Chesapeake Great. Now all you got
to do is help close the Halliburton loophole and waive your Non
disclosure agreements.”