WASHINGTON – After drawing criticism last year for taking a private jet to accept an environmental award, Academy Award-winning actor and environmental activist Leonardo DiCaprio took a commercial flight to and from last weekend’s People’s Climate March in Washington, according to a source close to the actor.
DiCaprio was also driven around locally in a Tesla electric car.
In May 2016, DiCaprio flew to New York from France on a private jet to accept an award at the Riverkeeper Fishermen’s Ball. He reportedly flew back to Cannes after the ball.
PJM learned that the actor traveled from New York to Washington and back on a commercial flight for the march, at which he did not deliver any speech.
Wearing a “Stand with the Arctic” sticker, DiCaprio marched alongside indigenous people during the event and held a sign that read “climate change is real.” DiCaprio left the rally after participants stopped at the White House before heading to the Washington Monument.
DiCaprio ignored questions from reporters as he walked several blocks to his hotel after leaving the march.
“What’s the main Trump policy you are protesting?” PJM asked.
“Sorry, sorry,” said one of his handlers, who moved closer to DiCaprio.
DiCaprio’s publicist stepped in between PJM and DiCaprio, extended his arm to block our camera shot and said, “He’s not doing interviews.”
“Why not?” PJM replied. “He’s in a public space at a rally.”
“So what? So what?” his publicist said.
“Who are you with?” PJM asked him.
“I’m someone who’s just here,” the publicist said.
A reporter from CNN also attempted to question DiCaprio to no avail. The “Departed” and “Wolf of Wall Street” star entered his hotel briefly, came back outside and then quickly jumped into a Tesla.
Former Vice President Al Gore was also in the crowd at the march, which concluded at the Washington Monument.
According to its official website, the People’s Climate Movement is dedicated to “pushing back against the Trump agenda and at the same time pushing forward on our vision of a clean, safe world where the rights of all people are protected and expanded.”
PJM spoke with some of the protesters on the ground at the march.
“All of our politicians need to make the climate, probably, our No. 1 priority. From the science and information I’ve seen it’s like, a dire threat, and if we don’t do something quick then the outcome is just going to be catastrophic, not just for America but for the rest of the world,” said Nick from California, who wore an “I love Bernie [Sanders]” pin to the march. “I think President Trump has definitely taken a step back from where President Obama was going, but even the moves President Obama was making were not enough.”
Sandy from Pennsylvania told PJM one of the reasons she decided to protest was because there’s “no use” for fossil fuels anymore.
“Fossil fuels mean money to him [Trump] and his friends who put him in office so fossil fuels, you know, there’s no use for them anymore. We’ve got to go with the wind power and solar and we have to save the earth for generations to come because we are near that tipping point where we can’t go back,” she said.
When asked for her response to those who argue that the federal government should not prop up one source of energy over another, Sandy said, “That’s true. They should not. Well, they shouldn’t do anything with fossil fuels or fracking. They should just throw those out the window. I don’t think they are propping up wind or solar…it’s ridiculous he can’t make these policies and say no more fossil fuels, no more coal.”
Henry from Virginia said that there is no use for oil any longer.
“We’ve been addicted to this collective heroin called oil that we’ve been mainlining for many years and we fail to realize it’s a finite resource,” he said. “We have not been good guardians of the garden and that is going to be our fall from grace. Nature will win. The question is, will we be part of the solution or will we be laid to waste?”
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