2008 Woodie Awards
Not just for the owls
Robert Switzer
Issue date: 9/27/07 Section: Forum
As The Independent Collegian reported on Monday, our campus was graced a week ago today by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., to give a talk entitled "Our Environmental Destiny." as the third son of Bobby Kennedy, Robert decided to use the power of his Kennedy name to become a prominent environmental lawyer rather than the likely choice of lobbyist, politician or corporate fat-cat.
I attended the speech, and I feel almost obligated to write in response to it because it may have been the best lecture I have ever attended. It had a major impact on my views on the effects of environmental policy.
Mainly, it convinced me that environmental issues are dramatically more important than I thought they were. It's probably best to illustrate why this is true through examples.
The best example, and the subject of Kennedy's latest book, is the disastrous impact the Bush Administration has had on the environment and the consequences that have followed. Ask any environmental expert and they will all agree on one thing: George W. Bush is absolutely the worst thing to ever happen to the environment in the United States, hands-down, no questions asked.
You should be shocked with the egregious list of environmental offenses by Bush, but you're probably clueless because the media is silent on these matters. However, if you managed to get your hands on the issue of Vanity Fair in which Kennedy's article "Texas Chainsaw Management" is featured, you read about how more than 100 important environmental regulatory posts were handed to corporate lobbyists and lawyers by this administration. If you missed it, you can read it online, and you should.
Just for a couple of examples: Gale Norton, Bush's secretary of the interior, once worked as a lawyer representing a paint manufacturer that was targeted dozens of times for lead poisoning as well as toxic pollution. Jeffrey Jarrett was the assistant secretary of the Department of Energy, but left that position to return to his old job: fighting for the coal industry's right to pollute our nation's water and air with no restrictions. Kennedy doesn't mention this, but while we're on the topic of the Department of Energy, Bush's first secretary of energy was Spence Abraham, a former senator from my home state of Michigan, who in his Senate stint, actually lobbied to eliminate … the Department of Energy.
I attended the speech, and I feel almost obligated to write in response to it because it may have been the best lecture I have ever attended. It had a major impact on my views on the effects of environmental policy.
Mainly, it convinced me that environmental issues are dramatically more important than I thought they were. It's probably best to illustrate why this is true through examples.
The best example, and the subject of Kennedy's latest book, is the disastrous impact the Bush Administration has had on the environment and the consequences that have followed. Ask any environmental expert and they will all agree on one thing: George W. Bush is absolutely the worst thing to ever happen to the environment in the United States, hands-down, no questions asked.
You should be shocked with the egregious list of environmental offenses by Bush, but you're probably clueless because the media is silent on these matters. However, if you managed to get your hands on the issue of Vanity Fair in which Kennedy's article "Texas Chainsaw Management" is featured, you read about how more than 100 important environmental regulatory posts were handed to corporate lobbyists and lawyers by this administration. If you missed it, you can read it online, and you should.
Just for a couple of examples: Gale Norton, Bush's secretary of the interior, once worked as a lawyer representing a paint manufacturer that was targeted dozens of times for lead poisoning as well as toxic pollution. Jeffrey Jarrett was the assistant secretary of the Department of Energy, but left that position to return to his old job: fighting for the coal industry's right to pollute our nation's water and air with no restrictions. Kennedy doesn't mention this, but while we're on the topic of the Department of Energy, Bush's first secretary of energy was Spence Abraham, a former senator from my home state of Michigan, who in his Senate stint, actually lobbied to eliminate … the Department of Energy.
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Pat Clements
Pat Clements
posted 9/27/07 @ 3:08 PM EST
Well said. The health effects alone of neglecting our environment should be alarming to the masses.
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