Guest essay by Eric Worrall
h/t Breitbart – UN Messenger of Peace for Climate Change Leonardo DiCaprio is finally taking his responsibility to set a personal example seriously, with news that he plans to flight share his private jet with other passionately green A-list celebrities.
What planet are you on, Leo? DiCaprio flies his LA friends 6,000 miles around the world so they can listen to his speech on GLOBAL WARMING
When Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio hosts a reception for a string of A-list stars, supermodels and wealthy philanthropists later this month, he will make an impassioned plea for more action to be taken on global warming.
But instead of holding the event in Los Angeles, where most of his guests are based, they will fly halfway around the world to the glitzy French resort of St Tropez – at enormous cost to the environment.
Last night, green campaigners were quick to criticise 41-year-old DiCaprio, who in February used his Best Actor acceptance speech at the Oscars to warn about the dangers posed by climate change.
The reception – the grand-sounding Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation Annual Gala To Fund Climate and Biodiversity Projects – will be held on July 20 at the Bertaud Belieu Vineyards on the French Riviera.
Celebrities including Kate Hudson, Charlize Theron, Cate Blanchett, Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz, Robert De Niro, Scarlett Johansson, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Kevin Spacey are all expected to attend, along with a host of international rock and pop stars, supermodels and tycoons.
And while a table seating 12 people at the gala costs up to £125,000, the real price will be paid by the environment.
…
The Daily Mail claims some greens have criticised DiCaprio’s extravagant long haul global warming gala, but I think they are being unduly harsh. After all, as far as I know DiCaprio normally doesn’t share his jet with lots of other celebrities.
Imagine the carbon footprint if all those green A-listers flew their own private jets.
By flight sharing on DiCaprio’s jet, those A-listers might still be collectively clocking up the same carbon footprint as a small city, but the saving over what could have been represents a win for nature. We should all recognise and applaud the heartfelt sincerity of DiCaprio’s baby steps towards setting a green example we can all aspire to.
Leo DiCaprio is a Paragon of Green Virtue. 🙂
Sad but true.
He and Al Gore are among some of their best examples.
He’s no different than the rest. Anyone drive along I-70 in western PA and notice the billboards highlighting celebrity hypocrisy on the environment?
https://www.biggreenradicals.com/billboards-showcase-celebrity-green-radicals/
Of course that’s coal country so you can imagine how well this stuff goes over with them.
Another revealing U Tube of the Hyprocrite.
Leo is making the world GREEN by fertilizing the world with the plant nutrition CO2.
Many of these Hollywood folks have made huge amounts of money based in many cases, not all (take James Woods as a counter example) solely upon their looks and perhaps their connections. So, you’re sitting around with all this money and depending upon your level of awareness you start to get the feeling that you really haven’t accomplished much with your life other than the money. A wasted life, a real sin even for those who believe in very little of the spiritual nature. So, you become an activist.
Of course, there are also those idiots who are simply ignorant enough to buy the coolaide being peddled. But they at least get to enjoy the feeling that they are being helpful. God made so many poor folks, I think, becauseit is much easier, and less dangerous, for people to deal with adversity than success.
In “MBA-Think-Mode” I’ve long thought that companies earning a bad “environmental” rap, hire the best PR & Advertizing brains to promote their way out of the mess they’ve got themselves in (e.g., huge grants to GreenExtremist groups, etc. just for Green-points and P.R. show).
Since the Hollywood Glitterati live such egregiously extravagant lifestyles, their PR Consultants are prob’ly murmuring in their ears something like: “It wd suit you to demonstrably show a modicum of recognizance — at least — for the vast majority of folks scrabbling for a crust of bread to support their families. What we propose [Sir/Madam] is a look-good, relate-to-current-popular illusions/delusions CAUSE … matters not …. pref’ly a [enter Actor’s namer here] Fund for [whatever looks best at the time].
Scan your eye across the Glitterati’s raft of Important Human Causes, and you’ll find a pattern, driven by P.R. Media, Sensationalist journalism, etc. WE LIVE IN 21st,C, IF YOU’RE *THAT* MUCH OF A HOUSEHOLD NAME, YOU GOTTA HAVE A “CAUSE” TO KEEP YA LOOKING GOOD! Perish the though that your box-office desirability & returns diminish (potential) income!
The concomitant is that likely most of these Glitterati pay only ‘lip-service’ to such Causes ….. but the P.R. says you are financially involved ….. what? ….. 0.5% of your annual income? Small Investment, big Return!!!
So, folks, my cynical ‘take’ is that these Glitterati (supernumeraries and otherwise unemployable in the REAL ECONOMY) are struggling to retain some vestige of Relevance in Society.
And in DiCaprio’s case failing.
It is all about the brand, and the increased media presence (thanks cable and the Interwebs) has only made it worse. I wonder if we could decrease the insanity a bit by somehow making the youth obsessed celebrities realize that supporting certain causes can be, shall we say, dating. Farm Aid or Band Aid? Save the Rainforest? Acid Rain? Equal Pay? [Actually, that is more of an indication of what should be a lethal mix of stupidity and laziness. Even some of the “feminist” groups have stopped trying to claim that one.] Palm Oil is Bad? Global Warming?
Claim one as your cause, and admit your age!
P.S. So called Climate Scientists are scathing about anyone who doesn’t have proper scientific accreditation and at least a Ph.D.
DiCaprio has neither, and so therefore deserves the same piss & scone as meted-out by the Alarmist crew.
I like AllyKat’s reply (to the extent I understand it). My rebellious daughter, in mid-20s, railed against my earlier gripe that Bono was a balladeer and so had no formal standing on anything other than selling ballads. She expostulated: “If Bono is wrong, to which icons can we — as youngsters — look for guidance in such matters [as the Environment]?”
Yikes! Voting the way yr fave star suggests, rather than studying an important issue, analyzing it from yr personal perspective, and making your own mind up on the issue in Q., really is worrisome.
Maybe this is what diCaprio and his ilk are all about. Influential Power thro’ Pop(ularity) over the masses who have no intellectual capacity, or education, to formulate their own opinions.
Imagine …. [S-q-u-e-a-llllll !!!…. I’m voting for what [Bono/diCaprio/whoever] says ‘cos I *really* fancy his smouldering look/tenor voice … whatever]
The worst advice offered by anybody was: “Don’t worry, be happy.” This is pure Soma to those who choose not to think for themselves: “Ignorance is bliss” so don’t bother with anything … just be happy. And so, vote ‘happy’ (guided by *your* Hollywood star) as undoubtedly he will help you towards your Nirvana (which is what to a wasted brain?)
An excellent recent example is with BrExit, in which the metrics admirably demonstrate that the % of ‘Oldies’ voting far exceeded the youngsters (80/30 thereabouts) and now the youngsters are claiming a ‘generational hi-jacking’ of their future: “We wanted in and we’re not leaving!”
Maybe all the Bremain side needed was Leonardo di Caprio to point them the way to vote…..
Which proves some kind of a point……???
I do wish people would stop alleging he is an actor.
+ millions
We should re-enact the old laws whereby “theatricals” were regarded as vagabonds and beggars and either chased out of town or thrown into prison.
Back when Rome was in power, actors were considered “infamia”, meaning they could not hold office, had no standing in court, could not bring charges in court, and could not enter the elite ranks of equestrian or senator. Others who were considered “infamia” were charioteers, gladiators (and those who worked in the profession), morticians, prostitutes, and pimps.
The other infamia were probably rather annoyed that they were being tarred with the same brush as the actors.
Re: diCaprio as Actor?
He *is* an Actor, and likely he is ‘puffed-up’ by over-weening accolades to thinking that his status in life transcends Thespian skills demonstrated in fleeting performances (of mediocrity or otherwise). Hubris, with the inevitability of a Greek Tragedy, kicks-in and … next thing … ‘He’ is the self-perceived Second Coming. (From my perspective, the First Coming never came in his instance.)
This all falls far short of cause for celebration.
OMG!!!! diCaprio for President next time round? At least he’d have Obama’s & Gore’s support … for what that’s worth these days!!!! Think of it … the Presidential Jet will be at his disposal as a personal toy — and free at the taxpayers’ expense! — to take all his Hollywood buddies to hear Him pontificate wherever. Self-Actualization of Ego knows no equal!
Here’s how this works.
Celebrities like this see an opportunity to use their celebrity status to make(what they think is) a positive change in our world(which is greening up from the increase in CO2).
There is no question that he sincerely believes everything that he thinks and states and that the “science is settled” because when we believe in something……..non scientists don’t try to prove it wrong to test the theory, they do the opposite. Their belief system causes their brains to seek out only information that confirms what they think they know………and discard anything that contradicts it.
Scientists should be held to a higher standard of course but DiCaprio does not know any better.
He also is not able to actually apply the same principles that he teaches to his own life because he does not see himself as one of us…….you know, regular folks.
He is in fact, by many measures, more important (which most of humanity agrees upon or we would not be having this discussion) and his importance, including his profound ability to communicate this “save the planet” message justifies his extravagant life style.
The bottom line is that, instead of feeling guilty about their extravagant life style, celebrities like this can use their widespread recognition and following, to send very powerful messages to many millions. This is how they do their part. If they can potentially get an unlimited amount of people to act in the manner that their message calls for, they’ve multiplied their power to make a substance positive change many, many times.
This allows people like this to justify mucking up the environment 1,000 times more than you or me……..because they are doing it to communicate their message to millions. In the absence of the message(the way they were before embracing this belief system), they would still be mucking up the environment at the same rate……..so to them, mucking it up for a good cause makes them feel good about themselves.
Not being a high profile celebrity makes it challenging for average citizens to understand this mentality. If we agreed with his position, we would be more inclined to support his actions…….because he would be maximizing his power as a celebrity to do good.
However, since the earth is greening up and by many measures, the last 4 decades have featured the best weather and climate of the planet in 1,000 years(since the Medieval Warm Period that was probably this warm in many places) and we know this, we don’t see him doing good. Instead, we see his message as counter productive because its misleading and exaggerates objective realities based on scientific observations.
Or maybe it’s just another trust fund charity foundation scam.
Like the Clinton foundation.
Leonardo is a great actor, but the brain processing power used for his acting ability must have taken away brain processing power from other important areas of his brain, like the part that can detect cognitive dissonance.
Like the actors who are fervently for gun control laws as long as the new laws do not interfere with their security details.
I note that jet aircraft fly in the stratosphere, above the weather in the troposphere, because the ride is smoother and more fuel-efficient. However, the exhaust when hydrocarbons are burned contains CO2 (a greenhouse gas) and water vapour. The water vapour forms ice crystals in the jet contrails (cirrus-like clouds) which, because of their low temperature emit low Planck black body radiation. This decrease in TOA (Top Of the Atmosphere) infrared (IR) flux to outer space overwhelms the cooling due to increased albedo, so high clouds are warming, contributing further to global warming. Of course, the quantitative effect overall is negligible, as even James Hansen has admitted (tested when all flights were grounded over North America after 9/11). But the intellectual elite, although they read a lot and attend conferences, are basically innumerate. None of them has yet noted that we breathe out 3% CO2, compared to the atmosphere’s 0.04 % by volume CO2 (400 ppmv). You can imagine their proposed solutions once this becomes widely known…
If I remember correctly the claim was that high flying super fast jets deplete the Ozone. That is why the US did not get into the SST (Super Sonic Transport) business and did not have the equivalent of the European Concord or Soviet TU-44 in commercial service. Now there are no SSTs in service. So now days if your flying commercial coach at most airlines you have about as many perks as riding Greyhound. So what’s an ultra rich person to do but buy their own jet?
The seats on Greyhound are, or at least they were, more comfortable than the seats in cattle car, excuse me I meant Economy Class, on US airlines. Admittedly, it’s been a couple of decades since I had to rely on Greyhound for long distance travel.
Who says the radiation to space needs to come from TOA. The as seen from satellites LWIR spectrum suggest that the 288 kelvin earth surface is the principal source of that LWIR emission, not those nothing clouds at high altitude.
G
…at enormous cost to the environment.
[Joe Pesci]OK, OK.[/Joe Pesci]
Exactly what is the “enormous cost to the environment”?
Unless one means the cost DiCaprio claims to be the impact of such a flight.
In which case, as many here have opined, would make what he is doing absurd.
This is the progressive left. Hypocrisy is their politics. Smear Republicans while living the high life. Remember Hillary Clinton recently gave a speech about inequality wearing a $12, 000 Armani jacket.
Actions speak louder than words but Democratic voters just don’t seem to get that. On a rainy day they would stand on the roadside cheering Hillary as her motorcade roared by splashing mud on them.
Eugene WR Gallun
WaPo did a recent article about the woman who designs clothing for powerful (real or wannabe) women, including Killary. I am not wealthy enough to notice or care about the difference between an off the rack skirt suit, a custom tailored designer skirt suit, or the skirt suit equivalent of haute couture. (Campaigning is an interview, and if you are interviewing for a major job, you better be wearing the formal attire for your sex. That is a skirt, ladies. YSL was wrong.) If someone wants to wear expensive attire bought with their own money that they came by honestly*, that is their business. BUT. Considering the amount of crap that a certain Republican woman got about her clothes a couple of election cycles ago, it is rather galling to see spending small fortunes on clothes being cast as necessary and virtuous, simply because a Dem is the one doing it.
I will allow this: at least it sounds like the party in France might be worth the ticket price. That is way more than can be said about the clothes on the campaign trail this year. Or the candidates.
*Killary is obviously disqualified.
Like in the old days actors said I do not care what you say just put my name in the title!
Leo is looking pretty smug in that picture.
It must be quite an Ego builder to to pretend you are saving the world .
My father used to call that sort of cap a “ratting cap”. Appropriate, I guess…
All of this sounds like great fun. It’s Independence Day in the USA and Leonardo and friends can do as they please, even congratulate themselves for being so hip and cool. What difference does it make, spending their lives being wrong, if they feel good about it?
They can believe what they want, or pretend to believe… If they have courage, then they could examine their beliefs. Seek truth.
Stars would fall from the heavens. Worlds would end.
Somehow, a trip to SanTrop would seem incomplete if BB didn’t stop by for a visit.
Last night three black bears visited my bird feeders and destroyed everything. DiCaprio wasn’t one of them but he might as well been one of them. 🙂
Look at it this way, without the B/S Global Warming scare, pathological publicity seekers like Di Caprio would be having to come up with stunts like declaring their (purportedly reciprocated) carnal love for their pet dog and their (supposedly mutual) desire to get married.
We should give heartfelt thanks to Global Warming that Hollywood has not led us down this Neroian path…
Yet.
Whether he likes it or not, DiCaprio’s actions in spreading more CO2 beneficially for the planet is speaking louder than his actor’s prune face when he finds he is wrong.
Maybe we should send him a thank you card. We could do it one of two ways:
1) Go green and send an e-card!
2) Send it around to every one who comments on the site, maximizing distances between signers. When the card is done traveling the world (bonus if someone hand carries it from one side of the world to the other), we send it to him via private jet/helicopter. To his rented yacht.
Number 2 (pun unplanned but now intended) would really show how influential he is on us peons!
DiCaprio should get behind a real cause like finding a cure for stupidity.
You can’t cure stupid.
The simple solution for these Hollywood hypocrites is for the approx 50% of us to simply not buy their products. Likewise they should not buy any Exon Mobile products. Win Win.
Leo knows he’s a hypocrite or he wouldn’t be seeking cover for his actions by flight sharing his private jet. The fact that he isn’t interested in putting an end to his hypocrisy, but only wants to whitewash it, leaves two possibilities. Either he doesn’t really believe his own propaganda, or he’s an elitist who really thinks he is “king of the world” and doesn’t have to abide by the same rules he seeks to foist on the rest of us.
I say (a) because of (b).
So what is an Academy Award anyway? When do they give it out? Consider this: They give it out when they decide your movie was a good enough fake to make the most people (that year) believe its message. It’s a FAKE! Actors make FAKES! The best paid actors are the ones that are best at FAKING!
The first time I saw Leo in a movie was when he played Arnie in “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?” During the whole film, I kept thinking they had gotten an actor who was actually slightly retarded to play that part. I was astounded when I found out that it was just an act.
Regarding the huge cost these hypocrites (actors) incur when they jet around to exotic locales to play their parts, it is NOT really any different from what they do day-in and day-out. It costs millions of dollars to create these FAKES (movies). I’m sure they don’t blink an eye, or ever consider what it costs to create their “art”. It’s what they do. If anything, they may pat themselves on the back for being able to command such huge budgets for their “work”.
The producers and directors are the ones calling the shots. The folks in the spotlight are just the front men. They’re paid to make you think they believe in the cause.
These celebrities need all of us great unwashed to stop burning fossil fuels so there will be more for them and their silver spoon offspring.
Is it just me or when you read that mouthful “Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation Annual Gala To Fund Climate and Biodiversity Projects”,
do you hear
“The Derek Zoolander School for Kids Who Can’t Read Good and Want to Do Other Stuff Good Too”
You win the thread!
In response to Goldrider July 4, 2016 at 1:33 pm and Gnomish a couple of hours later –
I’ll believe CAGW is real when all crematoria are closed down, and dead people are buried without expensive wooden coffins, so that their bodies naturally fertilize agricultural land, or are macerated and put in the oceans to feed fish, or are exposed on high towers to feed the birds (the Hindu way). Just think of the energy used in heating the crematoria ovens – doesn’t matter whether coal, oil or electrically heated, it is an unnecessary waste of good energy.
But as Gnomish says, I’ll never believe in CAGW.
Hindus either burn corpses (using sustainable wood for the fire) or chuck them in the Ganges. It’s the Parsees who feed the birds.
If he was really serious about the environment he would drive a Toyota Pious to the airport.
A complaint, why isn’t Blanchett afforded her full name “Carbon Cate”
Was that a misspelling? Toyota Pious? If it was, don’t tell anyone, because it could be a great joke. Seriously. Worth a good laugh, regardless.
Why didn’t the words preeminent environmentalist Mr Pachauri get an invite, or is he otherwise engaged.
Apologies for the spelling.