On Wednesday, Leonardo DiCaprio and his associates met with Donald Trump in Trump Tower to discuss climate change, naturally. This was, of course, the same day the president-elect reportedly tapped Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt — a fierce opponent of climate change arguments — to head the Environmental Protection Agency.
Climate change has become a hotly contested policy topic for the Trump transition team. After all, the Donald has changed course several times but appears to be trying to hear as many voices on the topic as possible. With Pruitt’s announced appointment as EPA head honcho, however, the future doesn’t look too bright for those attempting to combat human-caused climate change.
Hence why DiCaprio tried using his star power to convince Trump otherwise. The Oscar-winning actor has championed environmental causes for some time — most recently via a documentary on the subject he co-produced, titled Before the Flood. According to CNN, DiCaprio met with Trump on Wednesday to discuss to the subject, its many dangers and the possible solutions currently under consideration:
“We presented the President-elect and his advisors with a framework … that details how to unleash a major economic revival across the United States that is centered on investments in sustainable infrastructure,” Terry Tamminen, CEO of the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, said in a statement. “Our conversation focused on how to create millions of secure, American jobs in the construction and operation of commercial and residential clean, renewable energy generation.”
The meeting comes on the heels of former Vice President Al Gore’s climate change discussion with Ivanka Trump. Although her father did not attend the meeting, he did meet briefly with Gore — who has championed efforts to combat climate change during his post-White House career. Even so, Trump may be changing his mind as Tamminen suggested the president-elect was up for another meeting:
“The President-elect expressed his desire for a follow-up meeting in January, and we look forward to continuing the conversation with the incoming administration as we work to stop the dangerous march of climate change, while putting millions of people to work at the same time.”
If a dash of Hollywood is needed to get the point across, then perhaps stars will start lining up at Trump Tower in no time. Then again, as The Independent reports, maybe the gift of a free documentary film for Ivanka from a dashingly handsome and always-right actor was a big help too.
(Via CNN and The Independent)