Forests, Rivers, Fisheries, Public Lands, and Wildlife
America the Beautiful Is a Nation of Nature Lovers
Kennedy first became an environmentalist when catching salamanders, frogs, and crayfish with his brothers after school in the streams and fields near their house. One day bulldozers arrived and plowed under the area, leaving him with a momentous sense of loss.
Later, during his four decades of work as an environmental lawyer, Kennedy met Americans from all walks of life who have similar stories. He found that we all love nature. We all want our children and grandchildren to be able to enjoy a world with clean water, abundant wildlife, and healthy rivers, oceans, forests, and wildlands.
The heart and soul of U.S. environmentalism is protecting America the Beautiful. This is not a “blue” or “red” issue. Since the days of Teddy Roosevelt, “hook and bullet” conservationists have worked to protect their fishing and hunting grounds from corporate developers and extractive industries.
Kennedy worked with hook and bullet groups and commercial fishermen, as well as more environmental activists, to clean up the Hudson River. Yet somehow today, divisive political forces have set the public arguing against each other as corporate interests keep stripping away what we love.
As President, Kennedy will not allow big industries to turn everything — all living creatures and natural ecosystems — into commodities. Kennedy will staff federal agencies with people who are not beholden to corporate interests. They will enforce US laws such as the Endangered Species Act, so that we have more success stories like the recovery of the once-endangered American bald eagle.
Kennedy will safeguard America’s old-growth forests, and lead international efforts to end deforestation around the world. He will expand upon his experience cleaning up the Hudson River to restore America’s major rivers, wetlands, and coastal environments. And he will responsibly manage our natural resources, fisheries, hunting grounds, wildlands, and marine habitats.
As a nation of nature lovers, protecting our natural heritage for the next generation is something Americans can agree on.