Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

In the following viewpoint, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. argues that the states should not be given control over enforcing and regulating pollution laws. This power should remain with the federal government. The states cannot be trusted to maintain the same high standards of pollution control as the federal government, Kennedy asserts, as is evident in the fact that nearly half the states have given polluting corporations immunity from prosecution. Kennedy is an environmental lawyer and the coauthor of a book on environmental policy, The Riverkeepers.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. Who, according to Kennedy, are the most hostile to prosecuting polluters?
2. How many polluters did the state of Virginia prosecute during 1996, as cited by the author?
3. In what way do the residents of the Hudson River Valley live with toxic waste...