The Natural City Symposium, held at U of T from June 23 to 25, brought together a diverse collection of leading academics, urban planners, policy makers and environmentalists to discuss and share ideas about the complex relationship between nature and our cities. Included among the distinguished list of speakers were internationally renowned environmental advocate and attorney Robert F. Kennedy Jr., former MP and former Toronto mayor David Crombie, and Preston Manning, former leader of the Reform Party of Canada.
At his keynote address at Convocation Hall on Wednesday evening Kennedy, battling an untimely bout of laryngitis, spoke to the audience for over an hour. Using no visual aids or written notes Kennedy, nephew to former U.S. President John F. Kennedy, carried on his family’s legacy by using his oratory abilities to publicize environmental issues.
Kennedy focused on the importance of restoring Toronto’s waterfront as part of the city’s renaissance. Citing both Chicago and Boston as successful examples of waterfront rejuvenation, he claimed “Toronto will never be recognized as a world class city until the relationship is restored with the waterfront.”
Kennedy has a strong connection to Canada, frequently visiting for family vacations and offering support on environmental issues to mayor and close personal friend David Miller. Most recently, Kennedy assisted Miller in his pursuit to limit the Oak Ridges Moraine housing development and cancel the proposed fixed-link bridge to Toronto Island. With the ferry currently the only means of transportation to the island, the bridge would be built along with an expansion of the airport to accomodate up to 900,000 passengers a year. Lobby groups oppose the plan on the grounds of air and noise pollution and safety concerns.
As Miller claimed in his introductory speech, “Bobby is someone who truly understands [that] the environment is our future. Since the 1970s Kennedy has been an outspoken environmental activist determined to protect the planet from polluters. In 1984 he joined Riverkeeper, an organization aimed at protecting the environmental, recreational and commercial integrity of the Hudson River and its tributaries, and to safeguard the drinking water supply of New York City and Westchester County. Since 1993 he has been the organization’s chief attorney, leading many prosecutions against environmental lawbreakers. Today, Kennedy boasts, Riverkeeper “is one of the fastest growing national environmental groups in the U.S.”
In spite of the organization’s success, Kennedy said there were still many obstacles to prosecuting corporate polluters. In the U.S., he argues that the Bush administration has been uncontrollably “crushing environmental laws” and that the nation will “soon have no significant laws that will be enforcable.”
As Kennedy points out, many environmental regulations in place since the inception of Earth Day in 1970 have been repealed by George W. Bush. His administration “tore the heart out of the Clean Air Act” by making amendments to satisfy the needs of “energy producing…pollution emitting…campaign supporting companies.” Frustrated, Kennedy admitted, “the environment is always on the auction block when politicians are out for wealth.”
Claiming that an economic catastrophe will occur without significant investment in environmental infrastructure, Kennedy said the economy must be treated as a “wholly owned subsidiary of the environment.” He warned of the (corporate) style of governance exhibited by the Bush administration, fearing that the “merger of state and corporate interests” leads to “short term, pollution-based prosperity; [it]makes polluters rich but everyone else poor.” Companies are not required to internalize the true costs of production because governments do not force them to consider the environmental impact. “A true free market economy is the best thing for the environment; we should try it sometime.”
Numerous countries demonstrate the problems that arise when the environment is not properly managed. China, Russia and Thailand, all of which did not invest in sustaining their environment, are now faced with dramatic increases in health problems.
Kennedy declares that our “children will pay for our joyride” if we don’t act responsibly. He himself endures pollution related health problems; he has increased levels of mercury and double the national average amount of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in his body.
Beyond his role at Riverkeeper, Kennedy is an avid falconer and outdoorsman, and currently serves as the Senior Attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council and president of the Waterkeeper Alliance. He has published numerous articles and co-written a book, The Riverkeepers, with John Cronin. Kennedy also co-directs the Pace University Environmental Litigation Clinic in New York.
