Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a resolute environmental defender, will deliver the Lock & Chain and Chimes / Thomas C. Hennings Lecture titled “Our Environmental Destiny” for the Washington University Assembly Series at 11 a.m., Wednesday, Feb. 25 in Graham Chapel. The chapel is located just north of Mallinckrodt Center (6445 Forsyth Blvd.) on the Washington University campus. Assembly Series lectures are free and open to the public. (Seating for this lecture will be limited for the public.)
Kennedy has devoted his career to protecting the environment and has used his legal expertise to reduce pollution. He also serves as senior attorney for the National Resources Defense Council and as president of the Waterkeeper Alliance. He is a clinical professor and supervising attorney at the Environmental Litigation Clinic at Pace University’s School of Law in New York.
The Clinic takes a leading role in protecting New York City’s water supply and reservoirs. Kennedy has also assisted several indigenous tribes in Latin America and Canada in successfully negotiating treaties protecting traditional homelands. He helped lead the fight to turn back the anti-environmental legislation during the 104th Congress.
His reputation is built on a number of successful legal actions: prosecuting governments and companies for polluting the Hudson River and Long Island Sound; winning settlements for the Hudson Riverkeeper; arguing cases to expand citizen access to the shoreline; and suing sewage treatment plants to force compliance with the Clean Water Act.
Kennedy’s published books are Judge Frank M. Johnson, Jr., A Biography (1978); The Legend of City Water: Recommendations for Rescuing the New York City Water Supply (1991), co-written with David Gordon; and his latest book, The Riverkeepers (1997), co-written with John Cronin. He has written numerous articles on environmental law and litigation as well as on environmental justice and advocacy issues for The New York Times, Atlantic Monthly, The Wall Street Journal, Esquire, The Village Voice, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, Pace Environmental Review, and other publications.
In addition, he is a licensed master falconer and enjoys white-water paddling. He wrote the New York State Apprentice Falconer’s Manual.
He is a graduate of Harvard University. He studied at the London School of Economics and received his law degree from the University of Virginia Law School. He earned a master’s degree in environmental law from Pace University.
For more information on the Assembly Series lecture, call (314) 935-4620 or visit the Assembly Series web page (wupa.wustl.edu/assembly).