Rob Lowe has called on the US government to hand out tax credits to people who make their cars more environmentally friendly.
Lowe, who plays a member of Congress on TV show Brothers & Sisters, testified to lawmakers in Washington on Thursday to ask them to encourage drivers to add a plug-in feature to hybrid cars and trucks.
Plug-in hybrids have electric and gasoline powered motors, with a battery back that can be charged at home.
Lowe later appeared at a demonstration in the city where he showed off a Toyota Prius that had been converted.
He said: "The first money I ever made and was able to invest, I invested in an alternative energy company going back 25 years. Like a lot of Americans, I've been watching as the climate changes and as we are in a war on terror where our oil addiction helps fund people that want to kill us. It's gotten my attention.
"I have been driving this car around and I have to tell you, it did what my mother couldn't do. It did what my driving instructor couldn't do - it's made me a better driver."