Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to speak at Syracuse University

Friday, February 15, 2002, By News Staff

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to speak at Syracuse UniversityFebruary 15, 2002Kelly Homan Rodoskikahoman@syr.edu

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council and one of America’s best known defenders of the environment, will speak at Syracuse University on Feb. 26.

Kennedy’s lecture, sponsored by Syracuse University’s College Democrats with assistance from the Student Association and the Graduate Student Organization, will begin at 8 p.m. in the Goldstein Auditorium of the Schine Student Center. Tickets to the event are $2, $1 with a valid SU I.D., and are available at the Schine Student Center Box Office or by calling the box office at 443-4517.

Kennedy’s reputation as a resolute defender of the environment stems from a series of successful legal actions. He has prosecuted governments and companies for polluting the Hudson River and the Long Island Sound, won settlements for the Hudson Riverkeeper, argued cases to expand citizen access to the shoreline; and sued sewage treatment plants to force compliance with the Clean Water Act.

Kennedy is often credited with leading the fight to protect New York City’s water supply. The New York City watershed agreement, which he negotiated on behalf of environmentalists and New York City watershed consumers, is regarded as an international model in stakeholder consensus negotiations and sustainable development. He also has worked on other environmental issues across the Americas and has assisted several indigenous tribes in Latin America and Canada to successfully negotiate treaties protecting traditional homelands.

A licensed master falconer, Kennedy is the author of “New York State Apprentice Falconer’s Manual.” He also wrote “Judge Frank M. Johnson Jr., A Biography” (G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1978) and was co-author (with John Cronin) of “The Riverkeepers” (Touchstone, 1997). He is a clinical professor and supervising attorney at the Environmental Litigation Clinic at Pace University School of Law in New York.