An ongoing offshore oil spill, along with years of the Bush administration dismantling environmental protection legislation, has left many politicians, lawyers and environmentalists pessimistic about America’s energy future. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., however, has refused to accept the global energy crisis lying down.
Kennedy spoke to a packed house at McDonald Theatre on Thursday night about the future of worldwide energy production, as well as his involvement in legal actions to hold corporate polluters accountable while ensuring green technology can compete in the highly subsidized U.S. energy market. The lobbying power of petroleum corporations, the environmental and political repercussions of fossil fuel use and the effects of government controls on market competition, Kennedy contended, have eroded the country’s free-market capitalism, national security and respect of petroleum-producing nations’ sovereignty.
“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.”
Kennedy came to Oregon because of recent strides in the state’s green energy industry.
“In terms of national progress towards sustainability,” Kennedy said, “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 protecting the ecological integrity of the Hudson River. He is also the senior attorney of the National Resources Defense Council, a 1.3 million-member environmental action group of lawyers, scientists and other professionals.
Kennedy’s visit to Eugene was largely made possible by Lane Community College’s
Northwest Energy Education Institute, which offers two-year degree programs in fields dealing with energy efficiency. The institute is currently hosting a two-week energy workshop, and NEEI’s creator and Director of Energy and Water Programs Roger Ebbage wanted to provide participants with testimony about the ongoing battle over renewable energy from a nationally-renowned environmentalist.
“We wanted to give them an opportunity to see some big-name speakers,” Ebbage said, “and Mr. Kennedy is the pinnacle of those speakers.”
Elaine Vidal, project specialist at NEEI, said Kennedy received such a grand reception last week because he is able to influence corporate polluters and represent small-town interests.
“Eugene is a town that embraces a love of the environment … but it’s difficult to find ways to influence large corporations who seem able to pollute with impunity,” Vidal said. “Mr. Kennedy has found a way (by) forcing polluting companies and organizations to realize that expensive litigation affects their bottom line.”
Kennedy accused the Bush administration of indirectly poisoning the country’s natural resources by accepting money from coal companies to subsidize coal production while overlooking more sustainable, 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.”
He said that though the BP oil spill was a grave ecological disaster, it 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.”
His demeanor became more sympathetic as he talked about how President Obama must deal with obstacles to environmental protection and renewable energy efforts left behind by the previous administration. The first step for the president in overcoming these obstacles, Kennedy said, is to create a cap and trade system to help end subsidies for oil companies.
The next step involves upgrading the U.S. electrical grid system to transport electrical currents from the massive solar and wind-powered electric plants Kennedy believes will make up the county’s future energy landscape.
Kennedy 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.
As a final word, he imparted a tinge of optimism by saying the energy revolution could start at the local level if more people shared the audience’s sentiments.
“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,” he said.

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