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At the 2016 Academy Awards on February 28, actor and outspoken environmentalist, Leo DiCaprio received a standing ovation. He gave an impassioned acceptance speech while holding his long awaited Oscar for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role. DiCaprio’s performance in The Revenant is one of many leading and supporting roles that have earned him Oscar nominations, dating back more than two decades to 1994.
After thanking the Academy, fellow actors, the director, production team, his support people, family and friends, Mr. DiCaprio took the time to address Climate Change. Given the brief time on stage that each award recipient has to express their gratitude, he was very articulate and direct. The first half of the award speech lasted about a minute and fifteen seconds, followed by about a minute on Climate Change. GREENandSAVE applauds his ability to balance the allocated time and cover the bases with such poise to say thank you and also share his compelling points.
Here is the transcript on Climate Change (that we carefully typed from the TV audio, thanks to pause and replay on the remote control.) To a massive global viewing audience for the Academy Awards, Leo DiCaprio said,
“Lastly, I just want to say this - Making the Revenant was about mans’ relationship to the natural world - a world that we collectively felt in 2015 as the hottest year in recorded history.
Our production needed to move to the southern tip of this planet just to be able to find snow.
Climate change is real!
It is happening right now.
It is the most urgent threat facing our entire species, and we need to work collectively together and stop procrastinating.
We need to support leaders around the world who do not speak for the big polluters or the big corporations.
But who speak for all of humanity for indigenous people of the world for the billions and billions of under privileged people who will be most affected by this.
For our children’s children and for those people out there whose voices have been drowned out by the politics of greed.
I thank you all for this amazing award tonight.
Let us not take this planet for granted. I do not take tonight for granted.
Thank you so very much.” (Massive Applause)
These182 words by Leo DiCaprio that he spoke over the 60 seconds to close his Academy Award acceptance speech are some of the most concise and impactful words to date on the urgent need to take action.
Cultural tipping points come in many forms, and this week may stand as a significant moment in time for sustainability and environmental stewardship. Earlier in this week, country music superstar, Tim McGraw, tweeted to over 2 million followers about a War on Energy Waste. See: https://twitter.com/TheTimMcGraw/status/702250212602073089
This dual media and points of communication are highly relevant for a tipping point, because cultural change typically requires voices from multiple different points of view. Many people might expect that Hollywood supports environmental causes while they may not think of country music in the same category. The Climate Change advocacy is balanced by the War on Energy Waste which addresses job creation and Return on Investment (ROI) for saving money. The War on Energy Waste Report (linked from the tweet and here: http://independenceled.com/war-on-energy-waste/ ) provides the data on the environmental benefits.
According to the report, the US energy savings would “exceed $287 billion over the next decade and yield over 3.4 trillion lbs of CO2 emissions reduction, the equivalent of taking about 30 million cars off the road.” The War on Energy Waste also speaks to cost-effective tactical initiatives available today by individual decision makers in the public and private sector in addition to the support for leaders referenced by DiCaprio. This combination of micro and macro action can collectively yield the desired results. The mantra - Think globally, but act locally – resonates as loud today as it did in the early years of the environmental movement.
Thank you to Tim McGraw for opening the week with a key link into cost-effective ways to reduce energy waste, and congratulations to Leo DiCaprio for closing the week with a well-deserved win and passionate speech.
