Bob McCarty Writes

Dr. Patrick Moore, a co-founder of Greenpeace, takes Leonardo DiCaprio and other eco-celebrity activists to task in an article, An inconvenient fact, published in The Vancouver Sun today. Believe it or not, I loved it!

Having recently been dubbed a “DiCaprio Debunker” in the last paragraph of a recent Chicago Sun-Times article about DiCaprio’s latest film, The 11th Hour, I take great joy in seeing others — especially those at the top of the environmentalist ladder — joining me in my debunkery.

Here’s a snippet of what Dr. Moore had to say about DiCaprio and his cohorts in Hollwood:

Here’s a key piece of information DiCaprio, collaborator and long-time activist Tzeporah Berman and the leadership of my old organization Greenpeace are ignoring when it comes to forests and carbon: For British Columbians, living among the largest area of temperate rainforest in the world, managing our forests will be a key to reducing greenhouse gases.

As a lifelong environmentalist, I say trees can solve many of the world’s sustainability challenges. Forestry is the most sustainable of all the primary industries that provide us with energy and materials. Rather than cutting fewer trees and using less wood, DiCaprio and Berman ought to promote the growth of more trees and the use of more wood.

Trees are the most powerful concentrators of carbon on Earth. Through photosynthesis, they absorb CO2 from the atmosphere and store it in their wood, which is nearly 50 per cent carbon by weight. Trees contain about 250 kilograms of carbon per cubic metre.

North Americans are the world’s largest per-capita wood consumers and yet our forests cover approximately the same area of land as they did 100 years ago. According to the United Nations, our forests have expanded nearly 100 million acres over the past decade.

There you have it folks! A leading environmental activist says, in effect, “USE MORE WOOD!” and “WE HAVE PLENTY OF WOOD!” Perhaps, I should indulge him by sending him one of my favorite products made, in part, of wood: An I DON’T LISTEN TO HOLLYWOOD! t-shirt or other item!