Opening Session with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Wednesday, March 14
2:30–4:00 PM

PLA 2012 gets off to an inspiring start with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the keynote speaker for the Opening Session. Like PLA Conference attendees, Kennedy is no stranger to advocacy and fighting for the future of something that he values. His personal and legal efforts to defend the environment have earned him recognition as a “Hero for the Planet” (Time magazine) and one of Rolling Stone’s “100 Agents for Change.”

Mr. Kennedy serves as senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, chief prosecuting attorney for the Hudson Riverkeeper, president of Waterkeeper Alliance, is a partner in the clean tech work of Silicon Valley’s VantagePoint Ventures, and is the environmental advisor to Napo Pharmaceuticals. He is also a clinical professor and supervising attorney at Pace University School of Law’s Environmental Litigation Clinic and is co-host of Ring of Fire on Air America Radio. He has worked on environmental issues across the Americas, and has assisted several indigenous tribes in Latin America and Canada in successfully negotiating treaties protecting traditional homelands. One of his latest efforts includes participating in a film, The Last Mountain, which examines the struggle to save Coal River Mountain in Coal River Valley, West Virginia.

Among Mr. Kennedy's published books are the New York Times bestseller Crimes Against Nature (2004) and The Riverkeepers (1997). His articles have appeared in numerous publications and have also been included in anthologies of America’s best crime writing, best political writing and best science writing.

Mr. Kennedy is a graduate of Harvard University. He studied at the London School of Economics and received his law degree from the University of Virginia Law School. Following graduation, he attended Pace University School of Law, where he was awarded a master’s degree in environmental law.

PLA THANKS BWI AND BRAINFUSE FOR THEIR SUPPORT OF THIS EVENT.