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Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. delivers an environmental indictment against the Bush administration.
Photo by David Wasserman

by John Byrne Barry
Plenary Session
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Waterkeeper Alliance

- The full transcript of the speech is available.

When running for president, George W. Bush accepted money from criminals and then, as payback, dropped the federal lawsuits against these criminals and changed the law that they were breaking.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., did not mince words in his blistering and passionate attack on the Bush administration Saturday afternoon to standing ovations from 2,500 rapt Sierra Summit participants.

"One hundred and ten U.S. coal-burning power plants had been polluting illegally for the 17 years," he said, "and one of the first things Bush did was drop the Clinton administration cases against the 75 worst plants."

But most Americans don't know about this, said Kennedy, because of an "informational deficit" resulting from a "negligent and indolent press."

I saw Kennedy a couple of days before Election Day last fall in Milwaukee when I was helping the Sierra Club get out the vote in three communities on the outskirts of the city. This was roughly the same speech. He had a raspy voice then due to laryngitis, just like he did today. He called the Bush administration the worst administration in U.S. history and detailed the abuses that result when corporations control the government and the media.

He brought tears to my eyes. Today even more than in Milwaukee.

He's got his facts down, and he knows his history. But it's his passion that resonates. When he blasts the coal industry for destroying the Appalachians with mountaintop mining, you can hear his heart ache for the people whose homes and livelihoods are being destroyed. He's angry because he cares.

"You can't talk about the environment honestly without criticizing this president," he said, specifically lambasting the administration's putting polluters in charge of the federal agencies entrusted to protect Americans from pollution.

He blasted Bush and his corporate paymasters for "treating the planet as if it were a business in liquidation. You can generate a cash flow, but our children are going to pay for our joy ride."

Before his speech, Kennedy received the William O. Douglas Award from the Sierra Club's Phil Berry on behalf of his Waterkeeper Alliance. He started his talk by reminiscing about the hikes and backpacking trips he took as boy with Douglas in the Washington, D.C., area and the Olympics in Washington State.

He closed –- and this he didn't do in Milwaukee –- by praising wilderness and talking about how all the great religious leaders in history –- Buddha, Jesus, Moses, Mohammed -– went into the wilderness for their central epiphany awakenings. And how wilderness is deeply embedded in the American character.

Two hours later, I'm still shaking from the speech.

When enough people hear him speak, we'll have a different country.

-- 09/10/2005 Sat
4pm