Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. presented a solemn and pointed speech regarding the future of American energy use to a packed house at U. Oregon. The eager crowd erupted into applause every time his diatribe touched on particularly sensitive subjects such as the Bush Administration’s scaling back of environmental protection laws or the struggling BP oil spill cleanup operation, and gave him standing ovations upon taking and leaving the stage.
Kennedy touched on numerous facets of the global energy crisis, like the lobbying power of coal corporations, the environmental and social repercussions of fossil fuel use, media self-censorship regarding the crisis and how the U.S. free energy market has been diluted by government-implemented energy subsidies. However, he imparted a sense of hope for the future by describing his litany of successful legal actions against the coal and oil industries, as well as his ongoing work with promising green technology startup companies.
“The greatest challenge we face today,” Kennedy said, “is the challenge of how to use energy; to extract it, export it, and implement it and still be true to our values.”
The speaker said his desire to come visit Oregon was influenced by the great strides the state’s green energy industry has made in the last few years. He understood that the value Oregonians place on their natural surroundings has forced many to take a similar stance regarding environmental protection policy.
“I just love the landscape, the mountains, the ocean, and most of all the people,” Kennedy said. “In terms of national progress towards sustainability, the cutting edge stuff is happening out here, and there is a very strong sense that (your) future generations will depend on what (you) do now.
Kennedy is the Chief Prosecuting Attorney for Riverkeeper, a New York-based clean water advocacy organization dedicated to “protecting the ecological integrity of the Hudson River and its tributaries.” He is also the Senior Attorney of the National Resources Defense Council, a 1.3 million-member nationwide environmental action group made up of lawyers, scientists and other professionals. From outside the clique of environmentalists, Kennedy has met fame as the co-host of “Ring of Fire,” a weekly talk radio program focusing on “corporate fat cats, polluters and media spinmeisters.”
Kennedy’s visit to Eugene was largely made possible by Lane Community College’s Northwest Energy Education Institute (NEEI), which offers two-year degree programs in a range of subjects dealing with energy efficiency. The institute is currently hosting a two-week energy workshop and wanted to give its participants an opportunity to hear testimony about the ongoing battle over renewable energy sources from a nationally-renown environmental attorney.
Roger Ebbage, NEEI’s creator and director of energy and water programs, praised Kennedy for his commitment to public education and his willingness to speak to members of the energy industry like the audience members from the institute’s workshop.
“We wanted to give them an opportunity to see some big name speakers,” Ebbage said, “and Mr. Kennedy is the pinnacle of those speakers.”
In his praise for the speaker’s championing of environmental protection, Ebbage mentioned how Kennedy’s newest book published in 2004, the New York Times bestseller Crimes Against Nature, forces the reader to reckon with how poorly the past two presidencies responded to the every-worsening energy crisis.
“I remember taking his book with me to run on a treadmill,” said Ebbage, “and whenever I would feel unenthusiastic, I would read it and get so angry about what happened during the ‘dark years.’”
Kennedy made numerous attacks on the Bush Administration and fossil fuel corporations, accusing the administration of indirectly poisoning some of the county’s most cherished natural resources by accepting money from coal companies to subsidize coal mining and processing while overlooking more sustainable, more socially beneficial energy players.
“I get a fishing license every year and there is a map that comes with it of where you can’t fish in New York State due to mercury poisoning,” Kennedy said. “Then, I think to myself ‘that son of a bitch George Bush’ because I know what’s going on.”
The speaker believes that the average New York fisherman understands the situation insofar that they know the fish have been poisoned with mercury but do not understand why. This fact, he said, is essentially what divides the American political system.
“80% of Republicans are just Democrats who don’t know what’s going on,” Kennedy exclaimed with broken laughter from the crowd.
He also expounded against the BP gulf oil spill, saying that, unfortunately, such a grave ecological disaster was needed to raise awareness about America’s dependence on oil.
“We don’t need to abolish carbon to know that our addiction to oil is the most imminent threat to America,” Kennedy said. “The gulf is exhibit one; the true cost of oil.”
When the speaker mentioned that he had “filed five lawsuits against BP,” the crowd burst into hollers and applause.
His demeanor changed, however, when he came upon the issue of how President Obama’s environmental protection and renewable energy efforts. He delineated the obstacles that the new president is just now beginning to reconcile with, including the essential act of creating a cap and trade system to help end subsidies for oil companies, and the fact that the U.S. electrical grid system is gravely underdeveloped to transport electrical currents from the massive solar and wind-powered electric plants which, Kennedy believes, will make up the county’s future energy landscape.
“We need to do the same kind of thing Eisenhower did in the 50s and 60s when he helped build a national highway system,” Kennedy said. “Now, we need to build a national energy grid system.”
The attorney summed up his speech by saying that the heavy subsidization and de facto immunity from environmental protection laws have allowed corporate polluters to make a profit at the expense of the community at large.
“The head of a utility has to get up in the morning and decide between serving the public and the good of humanity, or serving their shareholders,” Kennedy said. “We need to start paying utilities to do good things.”
As a final word, the speaker assailed the campaign finance system, calling it a “legalized system of bribery” where “narcissistic hacks in Congress” are paid to say “’we can’t do it’ and sit on their hands.” He thanked the audience for not buying into that system, and for supporting the energy revolution at their local level.
“Today we have an opportunity to create an infrastructure, much like what Lane (Community College) is doing, to provide our country with energy independence forever.”