RFK Jr. says environment and democracy are intertwined
By Bill Rea

Caledon resident and CFRB Chief Correspondent Tayler Parnaby was the emcee at the dinner. He and Kennedy were chatting briefly before the proceedings.

Corporate America is doing more than its share to damage the environment, as well as prevent people from learning about it.

That dire message was delivered by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Nov. 7 at the 14th annual Charles Sauriol Environmental Dinner for the Living City, held in Brampton. It was hosted by the Conservation Foundation of Greater Toronto and the Oak Ridges Moraine Land Trust.

Kennedy, nephew of former American president John F. Kennedy and son of his Attorney General Robert, stressed the importance of an informed public when it comes to environmental protection, along with the fact that democracy and the environment are intertwined.

He also commented on the importance of keeping political partisanism out of the fight to protect the environment, adding the worst thing that could happen is to have this issue become the province of one party. But he followed that up with a harsh attack on the policies of the current administration of President George W. Bush.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.was signing copies of his latest book after addressing the recent 14th annual Charles Sauriol Environmental Dinner for the Living City. Caledon resident Debbe Crandall was among those getting her book signed.

There are some promising signs, he stated, pointing out there are good things happening in the building industry. Developers are coming to realize there are huge benefits to building green, including higher resale values, as well as their investment potential.

"It's going to save our planet ultimately," he remarked.

He also praised the local efforts at environmental protection, including the legislation protecting the Oak Ridges Moraine and the Provincial Greenbelt, as well as the trends toward land stewardship.

"It is an act of commitment," he declared. "It is ultimately one of the highest spiritual acts that you will ever perform.

"Nature is the infrastructure of our community," Kennedy declared.

The close relationship to which he referred between democracy and the environment was based on the notion that things like air and water are the shared assets of the community, so the test of a democracy is whether government makes sure the air and water and other "public trust assets" are maintained in good shape, and kept in the hands of the people.

Kennedy charged the current Bush administration is the worst in history, as far as the environment is concerned.

"It's a stealth attack," he remarked, summing up the administration's "radical agenda."

He added they have done away with a number of protections that have been in place, and have put polluters in positions where they are supposed to be fighting pollution.

He cited the example of Philip Cooney, who had been Bush's head environmental advisor, but prior to going to work for the White House, he had been chief lobbyist for the American Petroleum Institute.

He added there's nothing wrong with business people going to work for the government, as long as they are there to serve the public interest, and work to encourage other competent people to government service.

The actions of the administration are not the only problem. Kennedy said things have been complicated by a negligent and indolent media that has let it go unchecked and let down American democracy.

He charged broadcasters are supposed to report news that's of importance, not stuff about Anna Nicole Smith.

There was a Fairness Doctrine in effect, under the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which stated opinions couldn't be broadcast unless the other side was presented and that corporate consolidation was to be avoided in the industry.

Kennedy said the Fairness Doctrine was scrapped by the administration of Ronald Reagan. That took place in 1988, and he said it was done as a favour to both the Christian right, which was looking to take over talk radio, and to big studio heads.

The result, he said, is five multi-national corporations now own almost all the broadcasting outlets in the country, and about 80 per cent of the newspapers.

"The news departments have become corporate profit centres," he charged, pointing out many media outlets have done away with their investigative reporters and foreign news bureaus.

Instead of providing information, these broadcasting outlets only entertain," Kennedy said, adding American people know more about Tom Cruise's private life than they do about global warming.

"What's happened to our country?" he asked. "It's because we don't have a press that's informing people and challenging our leaders."

"It's a huge problem," he added.

Kennedy cited the problems created by coal-burning power plants, pointing out one in eight American children have asthma, including three of his. This illness is triggered by bad air, and he added there are some 400 plants in the United States burning coal illegally. All the plants in Massachusetts have cleaned up their acts, he said, but added it's hard to make that a wide-spread trend with corporations dominating the environmental efforts.

He also pointed out the administration of former president Bill Clinton tried prosecuting the 52 worst offenders, but the industry responded to the tune of about $156 million in contributions to the Republican party since 2000 from various corporations. The prosecutions were halted under Bush.

"I'm going to be able to watch my children gasping for air on a bad air day because somebody gave money to a politician," he declared, adding none of this will be read in the American press.

Mercury levels in lakes can be partly attributed to coal burning, Kennedy said, adding one in six American women have so much mercury in their wombs that their unborn children would be at risk. From all the fish he eats, Kennedy said he's been told he has 2.5 times the mercury levels in his system that the Environmental Protection Agency considers safe.

He added the Clinton administration saw the problem, identified mercury as a hazardous pollutant and ordered plants to remove it from their stacks. Kennedy said that could have been done at a cost of about one per cent of their profits, but the Bush administration scrapped it all about eight months ago, replacing those orders with rules written by industry lobbyists.

"We're living in a science-fiction nightmare today," he declared, adding kids can no longer go to the local fishing hole and safely eat what they catch.

Kennedy said there has never been a right to pollute. Protection of "public trust resources" were protected in ancient Rome and even in the Magna Carta. He added there was a time when it was illegal to burn coal in London because it was taking air away from others.