After actor Leonardo DiCaprio once again ranted about environmental issues in Brazil, Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro again took him to the woodshed.
DiCaprio, whose hypocrisy regarding his environmentalism has been slammed by Bolsonaro before, hyperventilated, “How extensive is deforestation in Amazonia, one of the most important places on the planet for people & wildlife? According to this map from @mapbiomas, the region has faced an onslaught of illegal deforestation at the hands of extractive industry over the last 3 years.”
How extensive is deforestation in Amazonia, one of the most important places on the planet for people & wildlife? According to this map from @mapbiomas, the region has faced an onslaught of illegal deforestation at the hands of extractive industry over the last 3 years. pic.twitter.com/BLxUC3S3z7
— Leonardo DiCaprio (@LeoDiCaprio) July 26, 2022
“You again, Leo?” Bolsonaro mocked. “This way, you will become my best electoral cable, as we say in Brazil! I could tell you, again, to give up your yacht before lecturing the world, but I know progressives: you want to change the entire world but never yourselves, so I will let you off the hook.”
– You again, Leo? This way, you will become my best electoral cable, as we say in Brazil! I could tell you, again, to give up your yacht before lecturing the world, but I know progressives: you want to change the entire world but never yourselves, so I will let you off the hook. https://t.co/FxCnqhFv6D
— Jair M. Bolsonaro (@jairbolsonaro) July 28, 2022
Two months ago, Bolsonaro ripped DiCaprio for his comments about the Amazon rainforest and youth voting.
DiCaprio had issued a series of tweets on April 28 in which he first stated, “The Tapajós region of Brazil’s Pará state is the target of industrialized illegal mining” then followed by urging people to vote, tweeting, “Brazil is home to the Amazon and other ecosystems critical to climate change. What happens there matters to us all and youth voting is key in driving change for a healthy planet.”
.@mongabay: The Tapajós region of Brazil’s Pará state is the target of industrialized illegal mining, which would leave massive destruction and is threatening to erase years of archaeological discoveries.https://t.co/rPnLu0r8fo
— Leonardo DiCaprio (@LeoDiCaprio) April 28, 2022
Brazil is home to the Amazon and other ecosystems critical to climate change.
What happens there matters to us all and youth voting is key in driving change for a healthy planet. For more on voter registration in Brazil before May 4, visit https://t.co/0mKrfxLdRR #tiraotitulohoje— Leonardo DiCaprio (@LeoDiCaprio) April 28, 2022
Thank you to the heroes of democracy in Brazil who are helping young people register to vote. To learn more & register online by the May 4th deadline, visit https://t.co/Ok03JYLH0U, https://t.co/vnKyBBO6Dq, https://t.co/UfqsCAMZiz & https://t.co/bU46tieJYA https://t.co/Ok03JYLH0U
— Leonardo DiCaprio (@LeoDiCaprio) May 2, 2022
Bolsonaro furiously addressed DiCaprio, telling his supporters, “Now, DiCaprio has to know that it was the very president of the World Trade Organization who said that without Brazilian agribusiness, the world would be hungry. So, DiCaprio better keep his mouth shut instead of talking nonsense.”
The day after DiCaprio’s tweets, Bolsonaro mocked DiCaprio on Twitter, writing, “Thanks for your support, Leo! It’s really important to have every Brazilian voting in the coming elections. Our people will decide if they want to keep our sovereignty on the Amazon or be ruled by crooks who serve special foreign interests. Good job in The Revenant.”
– Thanks for your support, Leo! It's really important to have every Brazilian voting in the coming elections. Our people will decide if they want to keep our sovereignty on the Amazon or to be ruled by crooks who serve foreign special interest. Good job in The Revenant! 👍 https://t.co/kg3b6rmPCw
— Jair M. Bolsonaro (@jairbolsonaro) April 29, 2022
The Daily Wire reported, “Bolsonaro later fact-checked DiCaprio, reposting a screenshot of a photo DiCaprio had put up on Instagram.”
“By the way, the picture you posted to talk about the wildfires in the Amazon in 2019 is from 2003,” Bolsonaro noted. “There are people who want to arrest Brazilian citizens who make this kind of mistake here in our country. But I’m against this tyrannical idea. So I forgive you. Hugs from Brazil!”
Writing in Forbes in 2019, Michael Shellenberger, a Time Magazine “Hero of the Environment” and Green Book Award Winner, quoted Dan Nepstad, the President and Founder of Earth Innovation Institute and the co-founder of The Amazon Environmental Research Institute. Nepstad proceeded to contest some of the most strident claims made about the Amazon rainforest burning.
Shellenberger noted that although CNN pointed out “Deforestation is neither new nor limited to one nation” and The New York Times wrote, “These fires were not caused by climate change,” both publications repeated the claim that the Amazon is the “lungs” of the world. CNN: “The Amazon remains a net source of oxygen today.” The Times: “The Amazon is often referred to as Earth’s ‘lungs,’ because its vast forests release oxygen and store carbon dioxide, a heat-trapping gas that is a major cause of global warming.”
Nepstad had a blunt response when he spoke to Shellenberger about the “lungs” claim, saying, “It’s bulls***. … There’s no science behind that. The Amazon produces a lot of oxygen but it uses the same amount of oxygen through respiration so it’s a wash.” Nepstad addressed the Times’ claim, in which they stated, “If enough rain forest is lost and can’t be restored, the area will become savanna, which doesn’t store as much carbon, meaning a reduction in the planet’s ‘lung capacity.’”
Nepstad snapped: “The Amazon produces a lot of oxygen, but so do soy farms and [cattle] pastures.”