Robert F. Kennedy Jr. criticized corporate influence over U.S. environmental policy at a fundraising event for Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager at the Madison Concourse Hotel Wednesday.
The son of the late Robert Kennedy Sr. is a lawyer, environmentalist and radio host on the Air America Radio network and is also endorsing Lautenschlager's re-election campaign next year. He spoke to a restricted crowd of approximately 50.
'Today we don't have attorney generals on the state level who are willing to enforce the law,' Kennedy said. 'The enforcement agencies that are supposed to be protecting Americans from pollution are now being run by the worst polluters in this country.'
Kennedy went on to cite examples of prominent positions within the Environmental Protection Agency that are headed by past lobbyists who previously worked against the principles they now are supposed to stand for.
'There is nothing wrong with having business people in government, it's a good thing if your objective is to recruit competence and expertise,' Kennedy said. 'But in all of these cases, these individuals have entered government service not to serve the public interest but rather to subvert the very laws they are now charged with enforcing.'
Kennedy asked the crowd to question the kind of public servants they are electing today. He warned the public of two major threats to American politics and civilization: 'The excessive corporate power and its coercive impact' and 'right wing religious fundamentalism.'
Addressing the current state of the environment, Kennedy cited the rising levels of mercury in freshwater fish and the effect of chemical plants on the ozone as major problems facing the country.
'We are living today in a science fiction nightmare,' Kennedy said, stressing the importance of dealing with environmental problems now instead of making future generations pay huge sums to fix them.
Kennedy informed the crowd that, contrary to popular belief, there does not have to be a choice between a prosperous economy and a clean environment. 'In 100 percent of the situations, good environmental policy is identical to good economic policy,' Kennedy said.
Although Kennedy was asked to speak on behalf of many other campaigns, he said Lautenschlager's was one of only two that he chose.
'There is no Attorney General who is better in the United States on the issues that I have been fighting for 22 years than Peg Lautenschlager,' Kennedy said.
