"The supreme reality of our time...is the vulnerability of this planet." - President John Fitzgerald Kennedy
Today marks the 50-year anniversary of the death of one of our nation's greatest leaders - President John F. Kennedy. As a political idol of mine, I have studied President Kennedy from his time in the U.S. Congress to his last days in the Oval Office. Disturbed by the social and political conundrum at the time, he pushed for change; tired of the racial inequalities and segregation, he pushed for civil rights; discontent with education in the United States, he sought reform from pre-school to post-college. Unbeknownst to many, President Kennedy was also a progressive environmental thinker and made decisions that would forever change environmental policy in the United States.
It is reported that President Kennedy was influenced by environmental legend Rachel Carson's Silent Spring. As a result, he formed a committee to research and investigate the impacts of pesticide use on the environment and human health. The committee's report was highly critical of the pesticide and chemical industries and weak government regulations. This decision by President Kennedy, and the results of the committee, laid the groundwork for the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (1970) and the ban of DDT (1972).
Kennedy also advocated for clean air, a stance that his brother - Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy - spoke passionately about during his presidential campaign. The president acknowledged that all we have is Earth and that we all breathe the same air.
Kennedy envisioned an energy policy that decreased our dependence on oil and replaced it with zero-emissions atomic energy - a relatively new concept at the time. By using nuclear power, he was answering the concerns of conservation and environmental impacts:
"There are two points on conservation that have come home to me in the last 2 days. One is the necessity for us to protect what we already have, what nature gave to us, and use it well, not to waste water or land, to set aside land and water, recreation, wilderness, and all the rest now so that it will be available to those who come in the future. That is the traditional concept of conservation, and it still has a major part in the national life of the United States.
But the other part of conservation is the newer part, and that is to use science and technology to achieve significant breakthroughs as we are doing today, and in that way to conserve the resources which 10 or 20 or 30 years ago may have been wholly unknown. So we use nuclear power for peaceful purposes and power."
He sought to implement the Rural Area's Development Program that would expand access to electricity, increase the use of resources and improve the economy. Harping on conservationism, Kennedy planned on comprehensive dam projects and the use of the natural resources such as wildlife, water and land to fuel the economy--no pun intended. In a speech at the University of North Dakota, where he would lay out this plan to develop America's rural communities, President Kennedy stated:
"We are seeking, in short, true parity of opportunity; but it will not come overnight. To achieve it will require a new impetus in electrification development, new starts in our multipurpose dam programs, and new greater use of our land, water, timber, and wildlife resources."
Kennedy also established the Youth Conservation Corps and the Peace Corps, two organizations that have had profound impacts on the protection and restoration of the environment both at home and abroad. The Youth Conservation Corps, a branch of the National Park Service, allows young citizens to partake in outdoor activities, enjoy America's wilderness, become education on conservation and environmental issues and participate in NPS projects. The Peace Corps has rapidly expanded into an organization that improves the lives of others in every corner of the globe. Corps members help create sustainable communities, tackle water quality issues and educate citizens of other countries on how to maintain a clean and healthy environment.
As an avid sailor, Kennedy understood the human connection with the sea and offered a deep thought as to why we strive to protect it at the Australian Ambassador's Dinner for the America's Cup Crews:
"I really don't know why it is that all of us are so committed to the sea, except I think it's because in addition to the fact that the sea changes, and the light changes, and ships change, it's because we all came from the sea. And it is an interesting biological fact that all of us have, in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea - whether it is to sail or to watch it - we are going back from whence we came."
Much of what we have today - the agencies, the programs, the ideas and the promise of a future - is because of President Kennedy. His legacy has been instilled in the generations that were fortunate enough to witness his greatness, and those that came after his time. I am proof of that; many environmentalists are proof of that. His predecessors, Republican and Democrat alike, praise him for his progressive thinking fueled by his youth and unique persona - which dubbed his presidency "Camelot." However, as President Kennedy noted, the vulnerability of Earth and of its many ecosystems, is one of our greatest challenges. We mustn’t fail to protect future generations, just as JFK made it his goal to protect the unborn. Failure is not an option.
I leave you with one last thought of President Kennedy's that summarizes the hope of environmentalists and my generation:
“I look forward to an America which will not be afraid of grace and beauty, which will protect the beauty of our natural environment, which will preserve the great old American houses and squares and parks of our national past and which will build handsome and balanced cities for our future.”
