DiCaprio: Bernie Sanders ‘Inspiring’ for Calling Climate Change Our Biggest Threat

DiCaprio: Bernie Sanders ‘Inspiring’ for Calling Climate Change Our Biggest Threat

by Daniel Nussbaum15 Dec 2015

http://www.breitbart.com/big-hollywood/2015/12/15/dicaprio-bernie-sanders-inspiring-calling-climate-change-biggest-threat/

Leonardo DiCaprio tried to avoid politics in a recent promotional interview for his upcoming Oscar-tipped film The Revenant — but the actor and environmental activist couldn’t help but praise Democrat presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) 16^%, whom he called “inspiring” for his recent call to action on climate change.

In a wide-ranging interview for Wired magazine, DiCaprio, who addressed the Cop21 international climate change conference in Paris this month, said that he admired the way Sanders prioritized the fight against global warming.

“Look, not to get political, but listening to Bernie Sanders at that first presidential debate was pretty inspiring—to hear what he said about the environment,” the Oscar-nominated actor told Wired. “Who knows which candidate is going to become our next president, but we need to create a dialogue about it. I mean, when they asked each of the candidates what the most important issue facing our planet is, Bernie Sanders simply said ‘climate change.’ To me that’s inspiring.”

The actor, who recently committed a faux pas by mistakenly attributing the common Canadian Chinook wind weather pattern to climate change, told the magazine that 2015 marked a “massive tipping point in the climate change struggle.”

He elaborated:

As I said, it’s the hottest year in recorded history. July was the hottest month in recorded history. We’re seeing methane bubbling up from underneath the seafloor. There are massive heat waves, drought, fires going on; ocean acidification is happening on a massive scale. It’s scary. I went to Greenland and there are rivers flowing like it’s the middle of the Grand Canyon. The question is, what do we do to mitigate that? Are we going to come together as a world community? Are we going to evolve as a species and actually combat this issue? The human race has never done anything like that in the history of civilization.

DiCaprio attended and spoke at the Cop21 conference in Paris earlier this month, where he met with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and urged local representatives from around the world to act quickly to strike a climate change agreement because the world is “fundamentally running out of time.”

“Climate change is the most fundamental and existential threat to our species,” DiCaprio told world mayors at the Climate Summit for Local Leaders. “The consequences are unthinkable and worse, it has the potential to make our planet unlivable.”

In his Wired interview, the Revenant star urged technology players in Silicon Valley to join in the Divest-Invest movement, where individuals pledge to divest from fossil fuel holdings and invest in renewable energy technology. The actor made the divestment pledge on behalf of his Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation in September.

DiCaprio has undertaken a number of environmental initiatives over the past year; in September 2014, the actor participated in the People’s Climate March in New York City just days before being appointed a United Nations Messenger of Peace. In April, DiCaprio announced plans to turn an unincorporated private island off of the coast of Belize into an eco-friendly resort paradise, and in June, the actor founded the “100%” renewable energy initiative with fellow actor and environmentalist Mark Ruffalo.

DiCaprio’s environmental activism has met with accusations of hypocrisy in the past; in April, hacked internal Sony emails published by WikiLeaks revealed the actor used a private jet six times over a six-week period in 2014.

Sony

Michael Lynton is the chairman & CEO for Sony Pictures Entertainment, the CEO for the Sony Corporation of America, a trustee at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and was a trustee at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Note: Barbra Streisand is a trustee at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the founder of the Barbra Streisand Foundation.

Barbra Streisand Foundation was a funder for the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Natural Resources Defense Council is a member of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership.

Leonardo DiCaprio is a trustee at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Natural Resources Defense Council.

George Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations, and was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Climate Reality Project, and the Brookings Institution (think tank).

James Gustave Speth is an honorary trustee at the Natural Resources Defense Council, and a director at the Climate Reality Project.

Larry J. Schweiger is a director at the Climate Reality Project, and a trustee at the H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment.

Teresa Heinz Kerry is the vice chair for the H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment, an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and married to John F. Kerry.

Cameron F. Kerry is a fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and John F. Kerry’s brother.

John F. Kerry is married to Teresa Heinz Kerry, Cameron F. Kerry’s brother, the secretary at the U.S. Department of State for the Barack Obama administration, a friend of J. Robert Kerrey, and was the candidate for the 2004 John F. Kerry presidential campaign.

J. Robert Kerrey is a friend of John F. Kerry, was a trustee at the Natural Resources Defense Council, an advisory board member for the Edible Schoolyard, and the candidate for the 1992 Bob Kerrey presidential campaign.

Katrina Heron was a director at the Edible Schoolyard, and the editor-in-chief for Wired.

Robert Redford is an advisory board member for the Edible Schoolyard, and a trustee at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Natural Resources Defense Council is a member of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership.

Leonardo DiCaprio is a trustee at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Michael Lynton was a trustee at the Natural Resources Defense Council, is a trustee at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the chairman & CEO for Sony Pictures Entertainment, and the CEO for the Sony Corporation of America.

James Gustave Speth is an honorary trustee at the Natural Resources Defense Council, and a director at the Climate Reality Project.

Albert A. Gore Jr. is the chairman for the Climate Reality Project, and the candidate for the 2000 Al Gore presidential campaign.

Thomas A. Devine was the strategist for the 2000 Al Gore presidential campaign, the campaign manager for the 1992 Bob Kerrey presidential campaign, a senior adviser for the 2004 John F. Kerry presidential campaign, and is a senior adviser for the 2016 Bernie Sanders presidential campaign.

Bernard Sanders is the candidate for the 2016 Bernie Sanders presidential campaign, and a U.S. Senate senator.