Thursday, April 12, 2007
Robert Kennedy Jr. stood at the podium, flashed a handed-down smile and explained why he’s fought for environmental changes for two decades.
“I don’t want my kids to grow up in a world where there are no family farms in Kansas,” he said.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, gives his speech about economic prosperity and environmental protection Wednesday evening at Lied Center.
Kennedy, a senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, gave his “Crimes against nature,” speech at the Lied Center on Wednesday night. Kennedy is also a best-selling author of three books including, “Crimes Against Nature,” and “The Riverkeepers.”
He said the key methods for encouraging environmentalism in a “broken democracy,” are reforming campaign finance rules and reforming the media so that they actually inform the public rather than sway and harm it.
Before his lecture, Kennedy said he had been interviewed by the KJHK radio station and asked why he chose to pursue safeguarding the environment.
“This is an issue that’s intertwined with everything we care about,” he said.
He was also critical of President Bush’s administration, saying that in seven years the Bush administration has been responsible for a large number of environmental problems.
“This is the worst environmental White House we’ve had in all of history, bar none,” Kennedy said.
He said in 1988, President Reagan’s administration abolished the Fairness Doctrine which required U.S. broadcasters to report news of public importance, devote time to all sides of political opinion and promote local control of news.
Because of that abolishment, Kennedy said the U.S. public hasn’t received adequate information about issues like global warming.
“We know more about Kate and Tom than we do global warming,” he said.
He said corporations that have close ties to the government have also snuffed out environmental issues because the issues could keep the companies from making larger profits.
“Polluters make themselves rich by making others poor,” he said.
David Burchfield, Shawnee sophomore, asked Kennedy a question at the end of the lecture about a case Kennedy was involved with in Ecuador.
The case would have guaranteed an indigenous Ecuadorian tribe royalties made from oil drilled on their lands by the Conoco company. The tribe asked for help from the Natural Resources council, of which Kennedy was an integral part.
The case fell apart and some authors blamed Kennedy for the result.
Burchfield said when he pressed Kennedy for a clearer understanding of the issue, he didn’t get it.
“His explanation was entirely too simple to explain something so complex,” Burchfield said.
He said he still enjoyed the lecture but accused Kennedy of changing his stance throughout the speech.
The event was sponsored by Student Union Activities.
Kansan staff writer Tyler Harbert can be contacted at tharbert@kansan.com.
— Edited by Mark Vierthaler
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