Leonardo DiCaprio Calls Out 2016 Republican Candidates on Climate Change

Impact

Leonardo DiCaprio recently used his Oscars acceptance speech for best actor in The Revenant as a platform to discuss the devastating effects of climate change and to urge the world to take action. Now he's taken that message a step further, announcing that climate change deniers have no business running for president of the United States, AFP reports.

"We should not have a candidate who doesn't believe in modern science to be leading our country," DiCaprio said during a press conference in Japan to promote the local release of The Revenant. "Climate change is one of the most concerning issues facing all humanity, and the United States needs to do its part."

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While DiCaprio didn't name names, it's pretty clear who he's talking about. Leading Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump and Ted Cruz have both flat-out rejected the idea that humans are fueling climate change. In the past, Cruz has tried to direct NASA away from earth science and climate research. 

Democratic frontrunners Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have made it clear they believe man-made climate change is real. (Modern science agrees.)

"We've been traveling around the world documenting climate change," DiCaprio said at the press conference. He said the film crew has visited China, India and the North and South Pole.

DiCaprio, a longtime environmentalist, has signed a deal with Netflix to make a series of environmental and conservation documentaries. Right now he's working on a climate change documentary that he hopes to release before the election in November.

h/t The Guardian