Kennedy said return of free marketplace will help environment
When Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spoke to a full house in Collier Arena April 8, he had a clear and consistent message. By eliminating the subsidies given to coal and oil and returning to a truly free marketplace, alternative fuels such as solar and wind will not only be able to compete, they'll flourish and give the U.S. all the energy it needs, energy that will be free forever.
"There's no such thing as clean coal," he said. "Why should we pay for an industry that's making lots of money (already)." Kennedy added that solar can cost as little as $.11 per kilowatt, which is as cheap as coal, and "you don't have to cut down the Appalachian Mountains to get it."
Kennedy offered some staggering numbers of the effects of the coal industry has had on the environment. He said that the fish in 49 states has some form of mercury contamination, making it unsafe to eat; pollution from the strip mining and production kills up to 60 thousand people each year, causes one million asthma attacks and has sterilized lakes. "It's a very destructive form of energy."
"The (current) market is rigged to benefit toxic, poisonous fuels that come from hell rather than the abundant fuels that come from heaven."
What would it take to move away from this form of energy? Kennedy said the first step would be to find a way to transport the alternative fuels over long distances. Even though there is enough wind in North Dakota, Montana and Texas to power all of North America, if a wind farmer wants to sell his energy, the electrons would dissipate by the time they reached the border.
Secondly, the U.S. needs to build an entirely new energy grid as the current one is misaligned and doesn't reach enough areas.
Third, the utility companies have arcane rules. "My home is powered by geo-thermal and solar energy," said Kennedy. "I can't sell (the excess) back to the utility and (if I could) they won't give me market rates. What we need is free market capitalism, not corporate crony capitalism."
He spoke with intensity as he delivered his pro-environmental message, one that resonated with the audience. He received three standing ovations and during many portions of Kennedy's speech, people clapped in agreement.
Kennedy was the final speaker in the College's Capstone series, "Water: The Rise and Fall of Civilizations," sponsored by the Rivers Institute at Hanover College and the Center for Free Inquiry. Turning his attention to that subject, Kennedy talked about the Hudson River in New York State. Back in the 1960s and 70s, the river was a joke and was dead for 20 years. "Now it's one of the richest water bodies in the North Atlantic," he said.
"We're not protecting the environment for the sake of the fishes and the birds," he added. "We're protecting nature because we recognize that nature is the infrastructure of our communities, and that if we want to meet our obligation as a generation, as a nation, as a civilization — which is to create communities for our children that provide them with the same opportunities for dignity and enrichment and prosperity and good health as the communities that our parents gave us -- we've got to start by protecting our environmental infrastructure."
