RFK, Jr. to Big Carbon: Your Day is Over

Graphic by Osha Gray Davidson

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Robert F. Kennedy, Jr’s keynote address to the Solar Power International conference in Anaheim, CA, has been described in the media as a “barn-barner” (the New York Times), “rousing” (Greentech Media) and “inspiring” (New Energy News).

It certainly was all that. As someone who has followed not just Robert, Jr., but also the career of his late father, Senator RFK, Sr., the best way I can describe the speech is, “consistent.”

 

Since the 1960s, the two Kennedy’s have spoken to deep-rooted traditional American values of democracy, equality and activism — no matter what the ostensible subject matter was.

Moments before he was assassinated in 1968, Robert Kennedy, Sr. was inspiring his supporters with a renewed call to activism. It’s an anachronism now tinged with condescension to speak of “the little guy,” but both Kennedys — and the late Senator Ted Kennedy as well — spent their lives working for this figure popularized during the last great American economic upheaval.

Listen to Kennedy’s Wednesday speech; the message is all “Bobby,” but on a topic virtually unknown to him during his short life.

Bobby had been called “ruthless,” and he could be that. In this era, however, with so much on the line, and with energy and climate change the looming issues of the day, it’s good to have a strong-willed and tough champion fighting in our corner.

It’s how you win. And this is a battle we can’t afford to lose.

—————-

Osha Gray Davidson is a contributing blogger at Mother Jones and publisher of The Phoenix Sun, an online news service reporting on solar energy. He tweets @thephoenixsun.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

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And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

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