It was while playing the role of Jeanie Boulet, one of the first recurring characters with HIV/AIDS in U.S. television history on the long-running drama 'ER' that Gloria Reuben first became active in advocating for those with the disease.

Several years removed from the show, Reuben, a star on TNT's 'Raising the Bar,' is still advocating for others. In addition to her continued work with HIV/AIDS, Reuben, 45, is now an advocate for several environmental issues. She is vice chair of the board of trustees of Robert F. Kennedy's Waterkeeper Alliance, an advocacy group aimed at protecting waterways around the world. She is also a member of the president's advisory council of the National Wildlife Federation.

Among the goals Reuben is pursuing is ending mountaintop coal mining, battling climate change and protecting our waterways from being polluted by large-scale corporate-farming operations.

With the United Nations-sponsored climate summit being held in Copenhagen, Reuben, on her way to a Waterkeeper fundraising event, spoke with AOL Black Voices to discuss why African Americans should care about the issues she's championing, President Barack Obama's performance on the environment and what's next for her career.

Black Voices: Explain how you first became involved in advocacy work?

Gloria Reuben: Doing 'ER,' the story line and all the boundaries we broke in terms of how we represented this woman living with HIV, was effective activism in its own right. It wasn't about until five years ago that I started reading the statistics about HIV and AIDS in black America that I realized I couldn't just know about this information and not do anything about it. I thought, "I'm going to use that platform and start speaking around the country, primarily to African Americans, Latinos and high-risk groups, and start bringing this issue into the forefront." A few speeches here and there snowballed into a lot of engagements about HIV that I continue to do. In a way, the tide is changing because we have an administration that acknowledges there is a pandemic here in the United States and is doing something about it. Yet there is still a great deal of denial, fear, stigma, homophobia and cultural issues.

BV: How did you broaden the scope of your activities to include environmental issues?

GR: The environmental side started the same way. Once I found out what was really going on, I couldn't not do anything about it. I attended a Waterkeeper Alliance invitation as a guest -- Bobby Kennedy's speech was so inspiring. At the time, the Bush administration was rolling back environmental laws. It became clear that I wanted to become more involved. I was asked to join the board two years ago, and in June, I was very proudly appointed vice chair. I went to West Virginia and went hiking up a mountain. We got to this crest, this ridge. We looked up, and I saw this mountain that was gone. It was sliced off. I was pissed off. At first I couldn't say anything, because I had never seen anything like that before, but then I was pissed off. As soon as you see something like that, you know it is not okay.

BV: What environmental issues have you been focusing on?

GR: I've been really focusing on the environment and the the coal industry for the last couple of years. We have a campaign, called "The Dirty Lie," about the coal industry and basically getting the truth out to the American public about the ramifications of burning coal, whether it be pollution, mountaintop removal or the burying of streams and how that ties into our main issue of climate change. We will not have any climate-change legislation before Copenhagen. There is a long way to go before the United States is a leader or even a player on this international issue. Whether with Waterkeeper Alliance or the Alliance for Climate Protection, Al Gore's agency, I'm very passionate about linking the issue of climate change and the ramifications on low-income, African American and Latino communities. There are high rates of asthma, and many of these communities that are literally dumped on. When the community does not have a strong financial or political hold, its people are more apt to be victims of environmental justice. HIV is a separate issue, but if ties into this as well, if we are talking about health care or the environment, the question is how does government and big industry play into the health of the community?

BV: Are African American and minority communities aware of how environmental issues affect them?

GR: The understanding and the knowledge being presented to communities is seeping in, but there is a great deal of work to be done. Although these communities are heavily impacted by environmental injustice, they don't have a voice or see their communities as being part of the problem or that there are any disparities in terms of environmental issues. It's a new thing for some of these communities to look at how the environment is impacting them or how certain industries are able to break certain laws in low-income communities. If their leadership doesn't stand up, it happens a lot.

I was in West Virginia filming a segment for 'Planet Green' about mountaintop coal mining. West Virginia has a lot of poverty, but in these communities surrounding the mountains, it is astounding how big coal has busted up the unions so that only 2 percent of the people working in the mountains come from those communities. In the community, there is a high rate of asthma, premature death, and the drinking water is polluted by sediment from mountains that are blown apart. The debris is dumped into surrounding waterways. There are 1,200 miles of buried streams. These people are completely forgotten about . We don't see them on the news. We would rather spend our time hearing about some couple that got in to the White House and their reality show nonsense instead of getting at these real issues affecting low-income communities. Whether they are white, black or Latino, it doesn't matter the color, these are communities that don't have any money or representation and are being literally buried. One of the big business in these communities is power-washing, because the rooftops have a thick layer of soot from when the mountain tops are blasted apart. People breathe this stuff in.

BV: How do we begin to empower communities impacted by environmental injustice?

GR: There are leaders in these communities. I try to be one of many that bridge the gap between them and the representative. The more people are educated about what is affecting them, the more they come together, protest, write and call their representative. In certain states, it's been generations where certain industries are running the show. The issues are becoming more well known because of the broader issue of climate change. There is more awareness of what is happening in these communities, but education is key. Awareness is key.

There are a number of citizen-led nonprofits that are standing up to these companies. It's tough because these companies have an extraordinary amount of money and a good marketing machine that can continue to put untruths about the ramifications of coal, for example, on television. It's a slow process, but awareness, information and education are key, whether we are talking about environmental impact on low-income communities, HIV and communities mobilizing to do something about it.

BV: If you were not an actress would you be a full-time activist?

GR: Yes, but I enjoy both, though. I'm a creative person, so whether it's acting or writing, I have to be creative. At this point, I feel lucky and content with being able to do both: being an actor and standing up for communities that need a voice. I spend much more time being an activist than I do being an actor at this point, which is fine. We'll see. I have consistently been taken in directions I didn't think I would be taken in. I'm just going to surf the clean-water wave and see where it takes me.

BV: Do celebrities have a responsibility to also be advocates?

GR: A celebrity, actor or musician, if there is a cause they feel strongly about, it's a no-brainer to stand up and do something about it. Sometimes we have celebrities that are just that. They don't have a talent; they are just a celebrity. No offense, to each their own, but I just feel if you happen to have a recognizable face and you are committed to an issue -- not just a public service announcement and you are gone -- why not use the world of celebrity that is taking up many aspects of our culture and use it for good. It's the natural thing to do, but everyone makes their own choices.

BV: How is President Obama dealing with environmental issues?

GR: He is definitely receptive. One of the big reasons he was elected is [because he] acknowledges the science of what's going on environmentally and projecting a desire to be a leader on this issue. Unfortunately, we have a Congress where some representatives are really not interested in issues, such as cap and trade, or making the changes that are necessary. We won't turn back the clock on climate change, but we can slow the process down. We don't have a lot of time to be talking, we need to take action now.

When we look globally at countries like Germany and China, these countries are pushing forward and growing with technologies for solar and wind at a much faster pace than we are. We have some catching up to do, not just priority-wise for the environment but for our economy and jobs. If we wait too much longer we will lose all the way around.

I was very disheartened to see Van Jones squeezed out by the madness named Glenn Beck. He was a leader on health, environmental and community issues in New Orleans. He was so smart and committed to the issue of environmental justice and green jobs. I was wishing President Obama said what happened in the past was irrelevant, because we need this person doing the job he is doing now. Frankly, we need a person of color talking about environmental issues in this administration. I don't know where he is, but I have to find him.

BV: Acting is what has given you the platform to focus on these issues. What's up with your acting career?

GR: Well, sadly, I found out the day before yesterday that 'Raising the Bar' is not coming back for another season. I knew from our second season that we were getting better and better. Sometimes this business is infuriating. I have a wide-open canvas ahead of me. I have some ideas in terms of combining my activism with an acting job, but I'm not ready to talk about it because it's a germ of an idea. Now, it's a consistent hunt for the next job that hopefully will come soon. I need to support myself, so I can continue to do the other stuff.