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Politics : GOPwinger Lies/Distortions/Omissions/Perversions of Truth -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: mishedlo who wrote (494)	2/5/2004 8:33:37 PM
From: shadowman	Respond to of 173976

mishedlo...you are a very forgiving person.<g>

To: mishedlo who wrote (494)	2/6/2004 8:08:09 AM
From: shadowman	Respond to of 173976

You make some good points about the Nixon/Bush comparison. this adds another. Kennedy talks to SU about environment By Dave Robbie Published: Friday, February 6, 2004 Robert F. Kennedy Jr. voice scratched with laryngitis as he spoke last night to a packed house at Hendricks chapel. But not even laryngitis could quiet a Kennedy. In a speech entitled, "Our Environmental Destiny," Kennedy blasted President Bush's environmental policies and the rapid environmental degradation seen under his administration. Kennedy, the chief prosecuting attorney for the environmental organization Riverkeeper, blamed Bush and every other politician influenced by large corporate donations for the current state of environmental affairs. Kennedy said that a New York Times' report about the doubling of asthma rates among New York City children within the past five years provides evidence of the U.S. government's dismissal of environmental law. "We are living in a science fiction nightmare," Kennedy said. "We are raising children in an era where the air is too poisonous for our children to breath." Ozone pollution from coal-burning power plants in Ohio caused the increase in asthma, and these power plants are in direct violation of the Clean Air Act, Kennedy said. The Clinton administration investigated these plants to try to bring them up to code. But the investigations were dropped when Bush got into office, because the plants had donated millions of dollars to the Bush campaign, Kennedy said. The coal comes from mines that destroy entire mountains in the Appalachian range, an action Kennedy again attributed to the Bush administration's changes in environmental policy. "These aren't just local people that are being harmed," Kennedy said. "This is the essential American landscape." The Bush administration also passed a law that allows the power plants to not fully clean their mercury emissions, Kennedy said. "There are going to be millions of Americans who are going around with a few lower IQ points because of Bush's decision," Kennedy added. Bush's environmental changes stemmed from the administration's belief that economic growth must come at the environment's expense, Kennedy said. But countries that give priority to their economic goals ruin themselves both environmentally and economically. Kennedy described the desertification of the Aral Sea by the United Soviet Socialist Republic to illustrate this point. The Bush administration, with its loyalties to corporate special interests, is moving dangerously toward putting corporations before the environment, Kennedy said. "We are seeing corporate control of government that we have never seen in our history, and it is frightening," he said. After blasting Bush and the Republican Party, Kennedy praised Richard Nixon for passing environmental legislation and creating the Environmental Protection Agency. Kennedy credited these actions to Americans' strong response to Earth Day and said that American interest and control must be present for the environment to be properly protected. "Democracy and the environment are intertwined," Kennedy said. "Birds and animals are not represented in a democracy, which is why only democracy will work by protecting the environment." A democracy becomes dangerous to the environment when corporations come in and scare local communities into waiving regulations, Kennedy said. "What the federal laws were meant to do was eliminate this kind of blackmail," Kennedy said. "They democratized our country and allowed local people to demand environmental (regulation)." Kennedy ended his speech by saying that the environment must be saved not so that future generations can live but that they can live well. "The environment is not crucial for our survival," Kennedy said. "We could probably survive on a rock, We are an ingenious species. It is crucial for the enrichment of our lives." After his speech, some students thought Kennedy's verbal assault on Bush and his environmental actions had been a little too radical for a university audience. "He went a little bit too far for a mixed audience," said Emily Benson, a junior surface pattern design major. "It was a little bit one-sided. I am very liberal, but I don't know what reaction you would get from a Republican." Other students however praised Kennedy for his straight-forwardness. "I thought it was great how he used lots of people and figures instead of just throwing out policies and laws," said Becca Spitko, a senior social work major. "I like the way he talked about how people are really what matters," said Sara Panella, a senior political science major. "For people to have a voice and to get involved in fighting for democracy." dailyorange.com