RFK, Jr. Calls Koch Brothers “Deadly Parasites On American Democracy”

[Judi Lynn]

RFK, Jr. Calls Koch Brothers “Deadly Parasites On American Democracy”
— September 13, 2015

At this year’s Waterkeeper Alliance conference in Boulder, Colorado, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. delivered a provocative unscripted keynote that lambasted the carbon lobby for undermining democracy and subverting the common right to a healthy environment.

Speaking to a group of activists, including more than 200 Waterkeepers from 30 nations, Kennedy declared, “We are engaged, as Abraham Lincoln said, ‘in a great Civil War.’” This time, he said, “the conflict involves all the Earth’s peoples. It’s not just a battle to protect our waterways, our livelihoods, our property and our backyards. It’s a struggle for our sovereignty, our values, our health and our lives. It’s a battle for dignified humane and wholesome communities. It’s a defensive war against toxic and economic aggression by Big Oil and King Coal. It’s a struggle to break free of the ‘soft colonialism’ of carbon’s corporate tyranny and create an economic and energy system that is fair, rooted in justice, economic independence and freedom.”


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Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., president of Waterkeeper Alliance, spoke to a group of activists, including more than 200 Waterkeepers from 30 nations
at the organization’s annual conference in Boulder, Colorado. Photo credit: John L. Wathen / Hurricane Creekkeeper
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He started by talking about the disproportionate impact of pollution on the poor and minorities. “Polluters,” he explained, “assault soft targets first—and that means the poor.” He recounted how the majority of toxic industrial sites and noxious facilities are in lower income communities where residents lack political power or connections to protect themselves. He gave examples of these environmental injustices including, Emelle, Alabama, which is home to the largest toxic waste dump in America—one of the country’s most impoverished regions where one-third of the residents live below the poverty line and more than 65 percent of the residents are black—Chicago’s south side, which has more toxic waste sites than any other American community and East Los Angeles, a primarily black and Hispanic community, which is the most contaminated zip code in America.

“In these communities,” he said, “Not just the land and water, but the people have been commoditized—and everything becomes expendable in the drive for corporate profits.”

More:
http://ringoffireradio.com/2015/09/rfk-jr-calls-koch-brothers-deadly-parasites-on-american-democracy/

[rusty quoin]

1. I am a long time fan of Ring of Fire

They have fought the fight since Air America days. Bobby has always been there. I love the guy.

[proverbialwisdom]

2. Read around.

http://www.hemispheresmagazine.com/2015/09/01/southern-fried-environmentalism/

Southern-Fried Environmentalism
Meet Alabama’s John Wathen, a true son of the Deep South and one of its staunchest environmental and social justice activists

Author Steve Friess

With a scruffy white beard, scraggly gray hair tucked under an American flag bandanna and a full-pitched Alabama twang, John Wathen seems a stereotypical Southerner of “Duck Dynasty” vintage. It would be easy to imagine him with a can of domestic beer in one hand and a hunting rifle in the other, trolling the woods and rivers around his Tuscaloosa home. Wathen does spend a lot of time in the Alabama backcountry, as well as on the Gulf Coast, but instead of a rifle, he carries a camera. His prey isn’t the wildlife that inhabits these parts, but the industry endangering the creatures and their habitat. You wouldn’t think it by the looks of him, but this 61-year-old son of the Deep South is arguably the most effective environmentalist in the U.S.

“John is a model and an inspiration,” says Robert F. Kennedy Jr., one of the country’s foremost environmentalists and president of the Waterkeeper Alliance, a national network of watchdogs who look after rivers, creeks and streams. Wathen is among its ranks, having served as the Hurricane Creekkeeper since 2003. As such, he patrols and advocates for Hurricane Creek, which passes through his property in Tuscaloosa.

“My first job,” Wathen tells me when I visit him in Alabama, “is to know everything that happens in Hurricane Creek watershed and to protect it.” But Wathen’s efforts reach farther than Hurricane Creek—most notably in the spring of 2010, when Wathen and a pilot from the environmental nonprofit group SouthWings flew over the Deepwater Horizon two weeks after it began spewing oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Wathen took pictures and video that went viral, he appeared on newscasts around the world, and the oil company later said that the damage was more serious than was initially reported.

Wathen beat the mainstream media, he says, because he and his pilot refused to be kept from flying directly over the well. “That’s international waters there—they got no right to stop anyone,” Wathen says while showing me his pictures of oil-drenched dolphins and pelicans. “When I think someone’s lyin’ to me, I can’t take no for an answer. I just turn on my camera, start takin’ pictures and video, put ’em on my blog and on YouTube, and the world seems to pay attention.”

Kennedy tells me that Wathen is a star in the Waterkeeper Alliance. “When we have our national conferences, everybody knows who John Wathen is,” he says. “Everybody loves him. He inspires people. He’s a very colorful character.” Case in point: The Waterkeeper Alliance reimburses keepers who get tattoos of the group’s sturgeon logo. Most get them on their arms. Kennedy’s is on his leg. But Wathen’s stretches from one shoulder blade to the other, and he’s happy to show it to anyone who asks. Among those who have, as evidenced by one of his favorite pictures, is former President Bill Clinton.

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Source: https://twitter.com/RobertKennedyJr/status/638769986782253056
Related: http://waterkeeper.org

......http://saveourgulf.org/about-us/waterkeepers

[RiverLover]

4. Rec this too! Great article, great man.

I'd never heard of him. Wathem, will remember that name. Thanks for posting!

[madokie]

3. RFK Jr. has all the fine qualities of his father and uncles

His speech impediment makes it difficult to listen to him at times for some people. Irregardless he is one brilliant person and more than welcomed on our side.
He is one of the people I look up too and have for years now--


ETA: I would love to see RFK Jr. be Vice President under a Sanders Presidency.

[RiverLover]

5. That would be a dream team for sure! /nt