RFK Jr. Preaches Environmental Courage

Sunday, March 3, 2013

BY JOHN CHAPPELL

Staff Writer

Noted environmentalist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. received a warm and enthusiastic welcome from his Sandhills audience Friday evening as he delivered a message of building an environmentally strong nation.

The son of the former attorney general and presidential candidate and nephew of President John F. Kennedy delivered the Sam Ragan lecture as part of the Ruth Pauley series at Sandhills Community College.

His topic was ""The Green Gold Rush: A Vision for Energy Independence, Jobs and National Wealth." Kennedy laid out a dream of a land rich with energy from non-polluting free sources like sunlight and wind.

He'd just arrived following a 17-hour return flight from Dubai, but his energy seemed unflagged as he spoke nonstop for an hour, then took questions from the floor, met with a long line of people and signed copies of his books.

The nation's real enemies, he said are the energy cartels that keep the country addicted to oil and coal. He attacked polluters and their pet politicians - "carbon cronies" he called them - for engineering a short-lived "pollution-based prosperity" that will cost future generations the earth.

Time magazine named Kennedy one of its "Heroes for the Planet" for his success in helping Riverkeeper lead the fight to restore the Hudson River. That spawned more than 160 Riverkeeper organizations around the world include a number in North Carolina.

"I started my environmental advocacy career working for commercial fishermen on the Hudson River," he said. "We have the oldest commercial fishery in North American on the Hudson - it's 350 years old. Most of the people I represent were families who'd been fishing the river since colonial times."

Their fisheries were being destroyed by polluters, and they decided to fight.

"We brought over 400 lawsuits on the Hudson against the polluters," Kennedy said. "We forced them to spend four and a half billion dollars, and as a result of that the Hudson today is the richest waterway in the North Atlantic. It produces more pounds of fish per acre, more biomass per gallon, than any other waterway in the Atlantic Ocean north of the Equator. Our miraculous resurrection of the Hudson inspired Riverkeepers all across North America."

Kennedy's constant theme was that good environmental policy is identical with good economic prosperity, that ending pollution spurs growth while pollution costs jobs. He mentioned his arrest last month outside the White House protesting the Keystone XL pipeline.

Kennedy described that pipeline project as "a huge, huge mistake" that would carry highly corrosive oil from Canada for markets in Asia not America. By taking up refinery capacity in the U.S., that oil would actually raise the price at the pump here.

"Huge subsidies (to oil, coal, and gas) tilt the playing field and give them an unfair advantage in the marketplace," Kennedy said. "Obama has promised again and again to end direct subsidies, but he has to get it through, particularly the Senate, which is really controlled by the oil industry, by Chevron and Exxon which give hundreds of millions a year. The good news is this: even with the subsidies we can still beat them in the marketplace."

The price of solar panels is dropping like a rock, he said. The price of wind-energy, even in Texas, is still cheaper even than gas. The lack of a national electric grid system is the biggest barrier to abundant cheap electricity produced in places like North Dakota from wind and across the Southwest from solar arrays. That cheap energy can't cross state lines because of the multiplicity of uncoordinated state regulatory agencies, and many state agencies are controlled by big interests.

"You have a DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources) in this state that is the poster child for a captive of industry," Kennedy said. "That is an agency that is not protecting the public from pollution. It is the sock puppet for the big polluters in this state."

When Kennedy said Congress would do nothing, a questioner asked what they to do. His answer was to get involved in politics. In reply to another who asked if he was planning to run for office, he said he hadn't ruled it out, that he'd consider it "if I believe it's something that would be an effective use of my time." He'd turned down appointment to Hilary Clinton's Senate seat when she left to become Secretary of State.

Another questioner asked about fracking - the process currently being considered as a way to tap potential sources of natural gas in Moore and Lee counties. Kennedy had been on a study commission in New York, he said.

"The more we studied it, the scarier it got," he said.

Contact John Chappell at (910) 783-5841 or jfchappell@gmail.com.

More like this story

MichaelFlorence 2 months, 2 weeks ago

Windpower and Solar are great, BUT what will generate the baseline generating capacity that needs to be online 24/7 to keep our electrical grid flowing. The wind doesn't blow all the time, sometimes it rains. Without a coal, gas, or nuclear baseline capability then everything would just stop. Just curious was the 17 hour flight from Dubai on a private or commercial jet?

booty2tee 2 months, 2 weeks ago

and....Natural gas is a NON RENEWABLE RESOURCE.

Toda 2 months, 2 weeks ago

A well written and factual article John Chappell.

I have a niece who works for a shipping company in PA. I'm told that most of our refined oil is shipped to foreign markets driving up our nations fuel prices at the pump. Pump prices isn't a matter of who is sitting in the Commander and Chiefs' chair, but Hedgefund investment strategies.

Lobbyists and fund brokers have complete control over our nations' energy resources. Albeit, debate continued over the Keystone XL pipeline to no avail.

Mr. Kennedy is correct with respect to rising fuel prices in the US due to production overabundance clogging our domestic supplies thus raising prices domestically. Forecasts indicate all of the Keystone XL pipeline oil will be shipped to far eastern markets, primarily China.

Spocks_Brain 2 months, 2 weeks ago

Geez another crazzy-wind and solar have failed miserably in the UK and now Germany is getting slammed with sky high energy costs because of its push towards green energy...

That said polluters need to continue to modernize and no one wants ruined rivers etc

The facts are....Green Energy cant make a profit.....just drive over to Dundarrach near Raeford and you can see an ethanol refinery that failed just a short time after inception-why? Couldnt make a profit? Wind is unreliable and solar not scalable...

Obamas goal is sky high energy prices-what will that do the economy??

Recently the chairman of Duke Enery said the future of enery - is coal....really! New plants can be built and are a lot less than nuclear.

Nat gas has aninfrastructure problem that of piplelines

dentman65 2 months, 2 weeks ago

TODA - I have read a few articles that say that the US consumes 20% of the world's oil..but only produces 2%....do you think there is any beef to that? They claim that's why we are at the mercy of the markets since we are consumers and not producers. Isn't there any way to keep the costs of gasoline down a little lower at least?

Toda 2 months, 2 weeks ago

US oil and gas boom takes many by surprise

You might find this article very interesting ... Link Here

"The rapid growth in U.S. oil production has surprised even industry insiders.

Forecasts that once sounded far-fetched are becoming reality. The oil production boom had been expected, but the magnitude of change in such a short period of time is a surprise. U.S. oil production is at its highest level in 20 years, while at the same time U.S. oil demand is at a 17-year low.

The International Energy Agency projects the U.S. could even leap frog Saudi Arabia and Russia to become the world's biggest oil producer by 2020.

Toda 2 months, 2 weeks ago

U.S. Refiners Are Thirsty for Canadian Oil

U.S. oil refining companies haven't seen times as good as these since at least the middle of the previous decade. Over the past couple of years, refiners with access to cheap domestic oil have enjoyed solid profit margins and strong earnings, which sent share prices skyrocketing last year.

And with new pipelines providing increased access to those refiners located along the U.S. Gulf Coast, the good times should keep rolling, as more and more cheap crude keeps rolling in. But that's not all. In their quest to boost margins further, several U.S. refiners have their sights set on oil being produced by our neighbors up north.

Link Here

dentman65 2 months, 2 weeks ago

So all of that should mean lower prices at the pump I would hope.

Toda 2 months, 2 weeks ago

How Do Hedge Funds Impact the U.S. Economy? Link Here

"Question: How Do Hedge Funds Impact the U.S. Economy?

Answer: If hedge funds can dramatically increase the cost of oil, they can have a huge impact on the economy. Oil prices are a component of inflation, which cuts into consumers ability to purchase. Since consumer products are 70% of the U.S. economy, a restriction in consumers buying power will lead to a slowdown in the economy’s growth."

dentman65 as long as investment houses dump cash into Hedge fund transactions and leverage returns, gas prices will continue to escalate. Prices at the pump will become lower when the market bubble bursts. Right now the market is artificial allowing large Hedge funds to fight over market shares and restricted availability of product. In this case it's petroleum. Right now our economy is held hostage to the big Broker houses and Hedge funds.

dentman65 2 months, 2 weeks ago

Thanks Toda! Well explained........but it still sucks.

Toda 2 months, 2 weeks ago

Glad to help ... it's all about some elses' money. BTY: Hedge funds very seldom use their own money! The Illinois Teachers Retirement Fund took a financial washing during the toxic mortgage default swaps. Gone!

theonewithsense 2 months, 2 weeks ago

When gas prices double, "green" energy will make financial sense. You can bet RFK Jr. will continue to fly private gets on his way to scold us. He will continue to have a huge green footprint, but if he can get us peons to all save energy and pay more for our products and services then I guess it's okay for him to live large.

irishman 2 months, 2 weeks ago

Other than flying on his private jet, the Kennedy's are also the main driving force to deny a wind farm off the coast of Cape Cod, typical liberal NIMBY's, do as I say not as I do!!

Spocks_Brain 2 months, 2 weeks ago

Germany, Spain Set To Pull The Plug On Green Energy Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/14/2013 21:11 -0500

Germany Greece Iceland Recession SWIFT Unemployment

Over ten years ago, when Europe was a bright and shining example of experimental monetarist "brilliance", and when the money was flowing, the continent decided to do the ethical thing and actively promote the pursuit and development of renewable energy through countless government subsidies. As a result, Germany and Spain became the undisputed leaders in the race for a green future, and both created similar laws to encourage the development of renewable energy. There were two problems: i) green energy, while noble in theory, is about the worst idea possible when it comes to profitability and capital self-sustainability and constantly needs governmental subsidies, and ii) it was the end consumers who would pay for the government's generosity, in the form of a surcharge on electric bills. In Germany, for example, as the industry grew (in size, and thus in losses) demand for the subsidy increased, driving the surcharge higher. In January, the surcharge, which amounts to about 14% of electricity prices, nearly doubled to 5.28 euro cents per kilowatt hour.

And, as the WSJ so deftly explains, "that means ordinary consumers shoulder the lion's share of the costs for what the German government calls its "energy revolution.

Spocks_Brain 2 months, 2 weeks ago

The immediate result of these steps will be a widespread collapse in the alternative energy space in Europe, which is barely sustainable on an "as is" basis (see Solyndra) with ongoing government funding, and will melt as fast as a snowball in the Iceland thermal when the money is even modestly cut off.

Because like all truly money losing government ventures, one can't mothball a project that by definition has to lose money in hope one day it will be a new money-winning paradigm, especially since the imminent deleveraging wave which will hit the world once Chinese inflation wakes from its slumber, will mean conventional energy costs will once again have no choice but to drop (see: "On This Day In History.... Gas Prices Have Never Been Higher").

Yet all this means is that the government will merely have to find other, more creative ways to lose money now that the alternative energy fad is virtually dead. Luckily, spending money with absolutely nothing to show for it is one thing that every government in the current insolvent global regime, has a peculiar knack for. It also means that thousands of former government workers with no real marketable skills are about to hit the streets demanding more handouts from the nanny state, and lead to yet another wave of European civil unrest just as the 'other people's money' is about to run out