Noted environmentalist and attorney Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made a brief appearance in Eugene Thursday afternoon to declare the Bush administration’s “pro-polluter policies harm Oregon’s environment.”
Kennedy, speaking before a crowd of mostly Democratic Party presidential candidate John Kerry supporters, lambasted President Bush’s environmental policies, saying the health of the Willamette River and of Oregonians has been jeopardized by lax regulations on polluting corporations.
Kennedy’s speech to a small gathering at the Eugene Water and Electric Board plaza, located along the Willamette River, was part of a daylong tour of cities on the Willamette. Earlier in the day, Kennedy traveled through and delivered speeches in Portland and Corvallis.
Eugene resident and EWEB employee Jay Bozievich said he heard the press conference from his nearby office and took impromptu vacation time to go outside and express his views. Bozievich, who ran behind the podium to defiantly hold up two Bush/Cheney signs, said he was upset that the orators used a public address system, although he acknowledged the presenters held a permit to hold the event.
“I can’t avoid hearing it, so I’m going to come out and show that all of Oregon doesn’t believe Kerry is the right choice,” he said.