Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Act locally, think globally

Kennedy to speak on environmental destiny


By DANA DUGAN
Express Staff Writer

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., shown here at a book signing in 2005, will be the keynote speaker at the Sun Valley Wellness Festival.

The green movement is not a fad, says the founder and president of Waterkeeper Alliance, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Kennedy also thinks that going "green is a good business strategy."

Kennedy, who will be the keynote speaker next week at the 10th annual Sun Valley Wellness Festival, is a champion in the environmental movement. His speech, titled "Our Environmental Destiny," will be presented at 7 p.m. Friday, May 25, in the Limelight Room in Sun Valley Village.

"We are seeing a sea change where people in the high-level business community are beginning to understand that going green is a good business strategy," Kennedy said in a telephone interview. "Business logic will continue to drive this. There are so many inefficiencies. For instance, the way we use energy in the country. This represents a huge opportunity for business.

"The vice president of Proctor & Gamble was talking to me this week (and said) their cold water Tide cleans clothing as effectively as hot water detergent. Universally, if everyone adopted the use of cold water detergent, it would represent a three percent savings in energy costs in this country."

He added that in New York City, 50 buildings that each cost over $2.5 million are all being built to LEED standards, set by the U.S. Green Building Council. In addition, the investment company Lehman Brothers recently announced it was changing policies to become green.

"The American people understand the connection," Kennedy said. "It's not just global warming but national security and economic independence. We need a good energy policy. It's not a fad that's going to go away. The ground swell includes 460 U.S. mayors who have committed to Kyoto Protocol. Unfortunately, this is not so with President Bush or Vice President Cheney."

Kennedy's talk about environmental destiny will press the idea that caring for the environment is "not just about protecting it for the sake of the birds and fish. It's our responsibility as a nation and a generation to provide our children with a healthy environment, with safe infrastructure, public lands, shared resources and clean water. It connects us to history and the past, and reflects the source of our character as a people."

He said by ignoring the truth about global warming, "We're putting ourselves at a huge disadvantage."

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For example, the fuel economy requirements in China are stricter than U.S. standards, which haven't been updated for more than 20 years.

"Most American-made cars cannot be sold there because of this," Kennedy said. "Billions of cars will be on the road within the next five years, and we can't capitalize on that. How can that be good for business? We should be producing those cars.

"We're the major consumers in the world, the largest economy in the world and the major producer of pollutants. As the wealthiest nation in history we have an obligation to lead the rest of the world. Sustainability and efficiency will make us more successful rather than less, as President Bush would have us believe."

Countries that are doing particularly well are Brazil, which after a three decade push, uses pure ethanol as fuel and has weaned itself off gas, and Sweden which pledged to be oil free by 2020, Kennedy said.

"The country needs aggressive government intervention to encourage free market solutions," he said. "By ending subsidies to coal and gas industry, we could see a rise in the use of energy that comes from solar, wind and conservation. Open the markets where they're congested."

As an example, he said that California, whose governor is married to his cousin Maria Shriver, has "reduced their energy costs by half, versus the rest of the county. Pacific Gas and Electric is creating infrastructure and getting consumers to conserve. You want to devise market-based mechanisms that recognize good behavior.

"Americans are the best-entertained and least-informed people on Earth. The biggest obstacle is that the media doesn't cover energy issues. The media feeds our prurient interests in the reptilian part of our brain."

"For the average person, the most important thing is to get involved in the politics," Kennedy said. "Hybrid cars and fluorescent lighting are great examples to our families, but what's going to change the planet is a law that says you can't build a car unless it gets 40 mph.

"The best action we're seeing is on the local levels. People are creating examples all over the country of how to do it right."

Ticket options

Tickets for Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.'s keynote speech are VIP $100, General $45 and $25 for students with ID. Available at Chapter One Bookstore in Ketchum or sunvalleywellness.org.




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