A March 11 article from The Huffington Post reported that Leonardo DiCaprio donated $50,000 to Adrian Grenier’s kickstarter dedicated to making a documentary about a unique whale that has a high call frequency, which prevents any effective outward communication.

This is the latest environmentally positive deed carried out by DiCaprio, who has shown his commitment to environmental stewardship. One of the best examples is his recent address at the UN Climate Summit urging for comprehensive worldwide action to curb human-caused climate change. Yet as DiCaprio has increased his environmental activism, there have been cries of hypocrisy with fingers pointed at his enormous personal carbon footprint.

What DiCaprio, and many other environmental activists, are fighting for is far greater in magnitude than individual carbon footprints. Large-scale environmental improvements must be made first through public policy. Diverting the conversation to focus on the habits of individuals, instead of countries, is like comparing apples to oranges.

One should look no further than a June 2014 article from biggreenradicals.com, a site notorious for its pro fossil fuel, money-driven agenda. The article compares DiCaprio to a dietician eating “a thousand pound plate of cheese fries in a single sitting — while telling the rest of us to lay off the fat.” There is only one major difference between the two scenarios presented but it is more than enough to turn this faulty logic upside down.

DiCaprio, and most other celebrity environmentalists, understand that lasting change will come through governmental intervention and are tailoring their message to them accordingly. Comparing a personal dietician combating health on an individual level is a much different thing than a man persuading politicians, whose audience is the entire world. One is interested solely in personal gain, whereas the other is fighting for the global safety.

Sure, it would be more convenient if DiCaprio did not produce an obscene amount of energy on his own, but what he and many others are fighting for eclipses this production millions of times over.

Given the implications of this argument, it must be noted that individual action is of great importance because it is often the driver for fostering environmentally sustainable beliefs. Individuals increasingly have opportunities to take ownership of their carbon footprints by investing in carbon offsets, something that DiCaprio publicly does. However, this is a luxury and the priority of widespread policy reform must not be lost.

This phenomenon is not restricted to celebrities. At the People’s Climate March in September of 2014, over 400,000 marchers took the streets of New York City, making it the largest climate march in history. The event was meant to generate momentum for the then-approaching UN summit on climate change. Yet, many news sites focused more on the trash left behind than the reason for the march.

Everyday citizens are not immune to these callous smokescreens, which only an already convoluted issue. It must be the responsibility of those who understand our current environmental strife to sift through distracting headlines, only meant to divert attention to the real issues at hand.

Comprehensive policy changes will always be more important than individual action when it comes to fighting global warming. It is imperative that the general public understand this and do not buy in to the media’s distractions, as tempting as they may be. Yes, DiCaprio is a hypocrite, but what he fights for is bigger than him, which is an idea that people must realize.

Azor Cole is a junior public relations major and geography minor. His column appears weekly. He can be reached at azcole@syr.edu and followed on Twitter at @azor_cole.

Published on March 18, 2015 at 11:57 pm