Kennedy to speak on fuel alternatives in coal country

By Roy York

In the heart of a state dependent on coal as a source of revenue, UK will host a speaker who is an advocate of transforming energy production worldwide.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., chief prosecuting attorney for the Hudson Riverkeeper and president of Waterkeeper Alliance, will speak on the economic and environmental sustainability of our state, nation and world on Wednesday at 8 p.m. in Memorial Coliseum. The event is being hosted by the Student Activities Board.

Kennedy has spoken out against coal as an energy source and has said mining is damaging to states dependent upon it.

“Coal is actually probably the most catastrophically expensive form of boiling a pot of water that’s ever been devised,” Kennedy said in a CNN interview.

In the same interview, Kennedy said there is no way a community can generate an economy after the land has been destroyed by coal mining.

Kennedy has supported President Obama in his energy plan and said Obama will lead the way to weaning America from its “deadly addiction to coal and oil.”

He has praised alternative forms of energy, such as solar and wind power, already being pursued in the U.S., and said these efforts will create jobs for Americans in the recessed economy.

Kennedy started StopGlobalWarming.org, a virtual march to petition government to accept the idea of and to fight global warming, as a forum for citizens to discuss and study his fight against global warming in addition to his fight against coal.

“Our generation faces the greatest moral and political crisis in human history,” Kennedy said on the Web site. “Will we take the steps necessary to avert catastrophic global warming or will we doom our children to a new Dark Ages?”

Kennedy has been involved in projects such as protecting indigenous tribes’ homelands in Latin America, protecting New York City’s water supply during development and pushing environmental legislation in the 104th Congress.

Jacinda Haynes, SAB director of multicultural affairs, said Kennedy will be speaking on the theory of sustainability and giving suggestions for how those theories can be implemented.

“He’s not just making money off of a movie about the planet warming up,” Haynes said. “It will be a great learning experience for people who think environmentalists are just a bunch of tree huggers.”