Energy policy is by far the most important issue in this year's presidential election, one that transcends partisan politics and dwarfs the nation's current economic crisis, according to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
AP file photoRobert F. Kennedy Jr.
Kennedy, an environmental activist and attorney, addressed a crowd of nearly 700 people Tuesday at Grant High School. His visit was part of the Fremont Area Community Foundation's Speaker Series.
In a nearly two-hour speech, the son of the late Bobby Kennedy opined on everything from pollution and politics to religion, world history and how he believes media monopolies are hurting the nation's democracy.
But his central theme was that America must transition from a carbon-based economy, which relies on petroleum products, to one powered by clean energy harvested from the wind, sun and the Earth's heat.
"The way we deploy energy in this country is really the key economic and national security issue in this election," Kennedy said. "Carbon is the principal drag on American capitalism.
"We're borrowing a billion dollars a day to buy oil from countries that don't like us very much," he said. "What we're spending to bail out Wall Street ($700 billion) is chump change compared to what we spend every year on foreign oil."
Massive wind farms in the Great Plains and solar power fields in the Nevada desert could provide all the electricity needed for every building and vehicle in the U.S. That would end America's need for foreign oil, generate billions in new investments and create millions of jobs, Kennedy said
The nation's current energy policy relies largely on foreign oil and coal-fired power plants, which contribute to global warming and a host of other environmental and public health problems.
Kennedy said the U.S. should follow the lead of countries like Sweden and Iceland, which use alternative energy sources -- wind, solar and geothermal -- to generate nearly all of the electricity needed to power their economies, homes and vehicles.
Building the energy grid needed to capture and distribute energy from clean sources could cost more than $500 billion. But a modern power grid capable of handling wind and solar power could do for the nation's electric economy what the Internet did for the personal computer industry, Kennedy said.
"The electrons are hitting the Earth every day, free of charge -- all we have to do is harvest them and get them to the consumer," Kennedy said. "All it takes is a little leadership."
He praised presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama for pledging support for alternative energy and reducing America's dependence on foreign oil. Kennedy said either candidate would be an improvement over President Bush, who he called the most environmentally destructive president in the nation's history.
"He's lead a stealth attack ... that has eviscerated 30 years of environmental regulations," Kennedy said.
AP file photoRobert F. Kennedy Jr.
Kennedy, an environmental activist and attorney, addressed a crowd of nearly 700 people Tuesday at Grant High School. His visit was part of the Fremont Area Community Foundation's Speaker Series.
In a nearly two-hour speech, the son of the late Bobby Kennedy opined on everything from pollution and politics to religion, world history and how he believes media monopolies are hurting the nation's democracy.
But his central theme was that America must transition from a carbon-based economy, which relies on petroleum products, to one powered by clean energy harvested from the wind, sun and the Earth's heat.
"The way we deploy energy in this country is really the key economic and national security issue in this election," Kennedy said. "Carbon is the principal drag on American capitalism.
"We're borrowing a billion dollars a day to buy oil from countries that don't like us very much," he said. "What we're spending to bail out Wall Street ($700 billion) is chump change compared to what we spend every year on foreign oil."
Massive wind farms in the Great Plains and solar power fields in the Nevada desert could provide all the electricity needed for every building and vehicle in the U.S. That would end America's need for foreign oil, generate billions in new investments and create millions of jobs, Kennedy said
The nation's current energy policy relies largely on foreign oil and coal-fired power plants, which contribute to global warming and a host of other environmental and public health problems.
Kennedy said the U.S. should follow the lead of countries like Sweden and Iceland, which use alternative energy sources -- wind, solar and geothermal -- to generate nearly all of the electricity needed to power their economies, homes and vehicles.
Building the energy grid needed to capture and distribute energy from clean sources could cost more than $500 billion. But a modern power grid capable of handling wind and solar power could do for the nation's electric economy what the Internet did for the personal computer industry, Kennedy said.
"The electrons are hitting the Earth every day, free of charge -- all we have to do is harvest them and get them to the consumer," Kennedy said. "All it takes is a little leadership."
He praised presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama for pledging support for alternative energy and reducing America's dependence on foreign oil. Kennedy said either candidate would be an improvement over President Bush, who he called the most environmentally destructive president in the nation's history.
"He's lead a stealth attack ... that has eviscerated 30 years of environmental regulations," Kennedy said.
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