Robert Kennedy Jr. has proven that the economy doesn't have to collapse at the sacrifice of the environment. River Keepers, an organization originally developed to preserve the Hudson River, now boasts 50 licensed River Keepers across the U.S., designed to protect our land, our recreation, our culture, our food, our jobs, etc. In 1966, according to Mr. Kennedy, Penn Central Railroad began "vomiting" oil from a rail yard pipe that went into the Hudson River. This oil then blackened the beaches, and made their fish taste like diesel oil, so it couldn't be sold at the fish market. The fishermen started to lose all of their money. This was especially devastating to the families along the Hudson River, whose livelihood was based on fishing. These people had fished the river since the beginning of Dutch colonial times, with the same fishing methods taught by the Algonquin Indians to the original Dutch settlers. The companies had control over the people and the town's lives, but the people didn't have any control over their own lives.

The government, oblivious to what was happening in the fishing village, did nothing, until the citizens discovered the 1888 Rivers and Harbors Act which said that it is illegal to pollute any waterway in the United States, that a polluter had to pay a high penalty if they got caught polluting, and anyone who turned in a polluter got to keep half of the fine. The people of Crotonville regained the control of their town and got a $2,000 award for demonstrating that Penn Central polluted. Today, according to Mr. Kennedy, after all of the clean up efforts, the Hudson River is the richest waterway in North America - "it's a veritable Noah's Ark - a species warehouse."

Mr. Kennedy is President of The Waterkeeper Alliance, which is the umbrella organization for the 50 River Keepers. As a professor of Environmental Law at Pace University's School of Law, Mr. Kennedy makes his students aware of the fact that corporations who are irresponsible polluters of rivers will have him and his students to worry about. In fact, his students are assigned to take on cases where they sue corporate polluters. Mr. Kennedy jokingly says, "If a student loses their case, they don't pass the class!" If they win the case against the environmental violator, they receive the accolades and the gratification of helping their ecosystem, and we all benefit.

When I asked Mr. Kennedy how should we handle the problem of toxic waste, he said, "We know now that there is nothing really safe that you can do with toxic waste. If you put it into the incinerator, it's going to go into the air, and then people in that neighborhood are going to have health problems. If you put it into a landfill, it's going to go into the ground water until someone repeals the law of gravity. Frequently, toxic waste ends up in communities that can't or don't know how to defend themselves."