In an address to the UN, and to the world, Leonardo Dicaprio lobbies for environmental change and discusses what he has seen as he travelled during the making of his new environmental documentary, Before The Flood.
Through vivid descriptions of our environmentally degraded planet and quotes from President Abraham Lincoln, Dicaprio shows the world how saving our planet is something that needs to happen now, not ten years from now, but today.
He begins the video by stating:
“President Abraham Lincoln was also thinking of bold action 150 years ago when he said: ‘The Dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves and then we shall save our country.’”
Though that quote was from Lincoln’s Congressional speech on slavery, Dicaprio wages that the plight in which this planet is facing due to man-made climate change is today’s defining cause.
Dicaprio goes on to say:
“Everyone knew it (slavery) had to end, but no one had the political will to stop it. Remarkably his words ring as true today when applied to the defining crisis of our time, Climate Change.”
Dicaprio describes the floods across the world, the melting ice caps, and the ever increasing strength of our storm seasons. He finishes his descriptions of his two-year documentation by stating:
“All that I have seen and learned from my journey has absolutely terrified me.”
It is easy to ignore and even deny climate change as we sit in our air-conditioned homes, drinking our expensive wines, and swimming in crystal clear pools surrounded by suburbia. However, if people step outside of the manicured existence and stop ignoring the uncomfortable realization that we are entering a new era in our planet’s history, they may begin to understand that without change none of us, or our future generations, will live to talk about it.
Take a moment and watch Leonardo Dicaprio discuss this vital topic.
Featured Image Via GMA News Online
