Debate of the climate change hotties heat up: Justin Trudeau vs Leo DiCaprio

It’s actor versus prime minister at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, as “The Revenant” star Leo DiCaprio and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau trade hot words about climate change. The debate was triggered by DiCaprio blaming on Wednesday corporate greed for causing climate change.

For Trudeau, called a “hottie” during the 2015 Asia Pacific Economic Forum in Manila, the remark was inflammatory because it did not help Canadians who lost their jobs in the country’s oil sands industry, which had been the subject of international criticism. These families, who are now suffering because their breadwinner is jobless, need support.

He also pointed out that the Canadian federal government and Alberta Province, where the oil sands are found, both have new national and local governments that are committed to act on climate change, reports the New York Post, Trudeau said at a dinner, also on Wednesday.

The prime minister, a former TV actor, cites DiCaprio’s statement that if the Canadian government would initiate concrete action on climate change, the actor would fly up north and celebrate with Canada.

Huffington Post blogger Cody Battershill finds DiCaprio’s climate change activism “hypocritical” because while the actor has been blaming fossil fuel use for triggering global climate disaster, “Leo hops around the world on fuel-guzzling private jet and giant, diesel-fired yachts.” He points out that DiCaprio finds it difficult to align his message with action.

However, while Battershill says that the public views DiCaprio’s activism with skeptic eyes, he concedes that his acting in “The Revenant” is really good. He concludes that “when he’s on-script, the man is amazing. It’s when he goes back to living his life off-script that his performance often turns into a five-alarm disaster.”