AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) - Woody Harrelson called for more anti-oil activism at a media and technology conference Thursday, though he declined to say how far he was willing to go personally as a protester.

''In spite of the fact that there's an increase in awareness of what's going on in terms of polar ice caps melting and just global warming generally ... oil companies don't seem to be making much of a change,'' the 46-year-old actor said.

Harrelson was at the ''Picnic'' conference, which has a green theme and features a contest in which British billionaire Richard Branson will award $700,000 to the winning idea for an environmental project.

''Certainly (oil companies) just want to get as much out of the ground and make as much money as possible before they transition into anything else,'' Harrelson said. ''So I still think it's time for some strong activism, especially as it relates to our dependency on oil.''

Harrelson was nominated for a best actor Oscar for his role in the 1996 film ''The People vs. Larry Flynt.'' His screen credits also include ''Natural Born Killers,'' ''White Men Can't Jump'' and ''A Prairie Home Companion.''

As an activist, he has advocated legalizing hemp and was arrested in 1996 after scaling the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco as a protest to save redwood trees in Northern California. Protesters there were accused of tying up traffic for hours.

Harrelson, a vegetarian, helped lead several dozen conference attendees in a yoga session Thursday.

He shrugged off criticism that he should stick to acting.

''To me, an artist has almost kind of a better vantage point, certainly (compared with) politicians, who have their corporate people that they're connected to, or to industry, who obviously have their reasons for feeling the way they feel,'' he said.

''An artist that doesn't have any entanglements, or people helping him decide which way to think, has a pretty clear perspective,'' Harrelson said.

By TOBY STERLING Associated Press Writer

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