Robert Kennedy Jr. was in Town
The thing I’m most disappointed about lately is that I didn’t hear Robert Kennedy Jr. when he recently spoke at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. Being only 45 minutes away from the Tech campus, I’ve been able to hear some distinguished authors and inspiring activists over the years, such as Kurt Vonnegut, Toni Morrison, Helen Caldicott, Kathy Kelly, and William Sloane Coffin. I’ve also missed other keynote speakers, like Ralph Nadar, Dennis Kucinich, and Jessie Jackson.
I didn’t even know that Robert Kennedy, son of the assassinated Democratic icon, was planning to be in the area. I had to settle for hearing about it after the fact from my friend Alwyn over lunch last week, and from the Roanoke Times article by Greg Esposito that she had clipped for me.
Kennedy, an environmental activist, talked to the crowd of nearly 3,000 about the subject of his most recent book, “Crimes against Nature: How George W. Bush and his Corporate Pals Are Plundering the Country and Hijacking Our Democracy.” According to Esposito, before Kennedy blasted the Bush administration for having the worst environmental record in history, he made sure to let them know that he wasn’t being critical for partisan reasons, pointing out positive progress made in the past under both Republican and Democratic leadership.
I know the Bush administration has set back progress on environmental protections, but being reminded so clearly was distressing, especially in light of recent scientific consensus on the reality of global warming and the destruction likely to ensue. Some of the offenses noted by Kennedy under the Bush administration included: rolling back environmental regulations, dropping lawsuits meant to protect the environment, and naming lobbyists for oil, timber and utility companies to head federal organizations designed to curb environmental abuse.
He was especially hard on the scientists, which he refered to as “biostitutes,” who were paid by big oil and coal companies to produce reports questioning the reality of how human activity contributes to global warming, which wasted precious time that could have been spent coming up with solutions to reverse those trends.
But the talk wasn’t all doom and gloom, according to Esposito. Kennedy made some comedic points too. Referring to a study done by the University of Maryland which showed how misinformation affected how people voted in the 2004 presidential election, Kennedy joked, “Eighty percent of Republicans are just Democrats who don’t know what’s going on.”
So when is Al Gore coming to Tech? Or did I miss that too.
Photo: A pond full of algae with a clear opening in the center at Manatee State Park, Florida.
March 10th, 2007 10:37 am
That picture…the shadows of the branch look like they’re holding a crystal ball. It also reminds me of my cast iron and glass diffuser! Awesome!
March 10th, 2007 10:45 am
I think of the photo as a green goddess holding up the hole in the ozone, like atlas holds up the world.
March 10th, 2007 6:35 pm
This administration depresses me on every count. Politically, environmentally, constitutionally and humanity-wise, too!
The frightening and horrible thing is they can do that much more harm in these next almost two years…they are like selfish lying thugs, gone mad!
Robert Kennedy Jr. is really an amazing voice for the environment. And Thank God for him and for Gore and the others who speak up and who take action, too!
March 10th, 2007 7:26 pm
What Naomi said! I can’t stomach Bush at all.
March 10th, 2007 8:03 pm
It always makes me shake my head when RFK Jr speaks. I know his first wife.
To say that the Republicans are not for a good environment is sophomoric. At best. We breathe the air and drink the water, too. No Senator of either party voted for Kyoto when Clinton presented it. The first Bush president passed the Clean Air Act. The second Bush president had a ranch built in Crawford Texas named very environmentally friendly by all sides, something Al Gore cannot say. And for the purchasing of the carbon friendly stocks to offset the do as I say not as I do lifestyle? Not proving to be efficient.
I’m sure RFK’s heart is in the right place. It is also his livlihood. There is no concensus in the scientific on global warming. Everyone agrees it is happening. The degree and causes are still under study.
March 10th, 2007 9:06 pm
I am betting old Al is too popular to hit Tech now! I like him but he is quite the star these days. I didn’t know Kennedy Jr. was going to be in Blacksburg either. I never hear anything anymore. Our local paper used to list big things going on in Blacksburg or Radford.
March 10th, 2007 10:21 pm
He didn’t say Republicans were bad for the environment. He said this George Bush was/is.
March 11th, 2007 7:50 am
I always have to smile when people poo-poo the causes of global warming. Heck yeah, we’re all innocent and solving it has nothing to do with politics. Right.
Sorry you missed hearing him speak. I’m sure you would have enjoyed that.
March 11th, 2007 12:01 pm
Al Gore spoke in Toronto a few weeks ago…tickets started at $20 but then at the
last minute they were going for $500! I couldn’t go but am certainly go to David Suzuki’s cross Canada tour!
March 16th, 2007 11:25 am
I heard Jessie Jackson speak years ago, and although my and his views differ sharply, he was the most powerful speaker I have ever heard.