One month after he told the United Nations that “our planet cannot be saved, unless we leave fossil fuels in the ground, where they belong,” Leonardo DiCaprio was flying across Europe on gas-guzzling private jets.
Hollywood’s resident global warming doom merchant is also its foremost fossil fuel-burning hypocrite.
DiCaprio attended the Cannes Film Festival Monday and was seen partying with model Georgia Fowler. Two days later, The Revenant star was in New York, where he received the Fishermen’s Ball’s “Big Fish” award for his commitment to clean water. A day later, DiCaprio was back in France giving a speech at amfAR’s Cinema Against AIDS gala.
One week, two continents, and 8,000 carbon emission-powered miles later, Leonardo DiCaprio was already back to his hashtag activism and fighting climate change on social media.
All this from the man who says that “a massive change is required right now, one that leads to a new collective consciousness, a new collective evolution of the human race, inspired and enabled by a sense of urgency.”
An inside source, according to the New York Post, said DiCaprio had “hitched a ride with someone already flying back [and] to Cannes. Hitching a ride was the only way he could make it in time for both events.”
How does a man who called manmade climate change “the most existential human crisis that the world has ever known” rationalize flying 8,000 miles in five days?
By saying, “Hey, it wasn’t my private jet.”
Leonardo DiCaprio “demonstrates exactly why our consumption of fossil fuels continues to grow,” environmental analyst Robert Rapier told the Post. “It’s because everyone loves the combination of cost and convenience they offer. Alternatives usually require sacrifice of one form or another.”
Two months ago, DiCaprio told a room of reporters that “climate change is one of the most concerning issues facing all humanity and the United States needs to do its part.”
How can Leonardo DiCaprio persistently lecture Americans about the perils of being reliant on fossil fuels, when he’s so brazenly hypocritical and obviously guilty of the same sin?
Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter: @jeromeehudson.