JFK's Nephew Pleads For U.S. Action On Global Warming

By Ji Hyun Yoo

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Chairman of the Waterkeeper Alliance and the nephew of former President John F. Kennedy, said Wednesday that the U.S. should react urgently to current environmental issues. Kennedy was part of a panel that testified before a Select House Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.

Kennedy, an attorney who has dedicated most of his adult life to championing environmental issues, argued that America needs to take serious action toward reducing global warming.

“Everything we’ve got to do to deal with global warming are things we ought to be doing anyway, for the sake of our national prosperity, for the sake of building jobs, for the sake of our national security our energy security, our independence and our international leadership,” he said. 

Kennedy told the committee that the U.S. should move from an energy system dependent on foreign oil to a so-called smart grid system, which would generate power for homes and businesses through digital technology. 

“We need a grid system that would turn every American into an energy entrepreneur, every home into a power plant, power our country based upon American ingenuity, resourcefulness, human energy what Franklin Roosevelt called American industrial genius, rather than Saudi Arabian oil.”

Unfortunately for Kennedy and other like-minded experts, Wednesday’s hearing marked the last time the Global Warming committee will meet. Republicans announced earlier in the week that they would disband the panel for budgetary purposes when the 112th Congress convenes in January.