Robert Kennedy Jr. was an environmental lawyer who worked with Native American communities on environmental health issues. (Photo by Bob Carey/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
In a lengthy speech announcing his decision to end his presidential campaign, Robert Kennedy Jr. spoke for nearly 20 minutes about environmental health and chronic childhood disease. Along with concerns about the military-industrial complex and media censorship, Kennedy cited concern about chemical pollution leading to chronic disease as one of his main motivations for supporting the Trump campaign. He spoke passionately about the issue of endocrine disruptors found in pesticides and food additives causing hormone imbalances and leading to an inexplicable rise in various developmental disorders. The scientific evidence for these connections is well established in various studies and is by no means indisputable (unlike his views on vaccines and mercury).
Kennedy acknowledged that both parties are funded by big agri-food companies, but he seemed convinced that a President Trump would be less constrained by such vested interests. This is quite surprising, since the Trump administration rolled back over 100 environmental regulations in its first term. Notably, the Center for Biological Diversity records that 94% of new pesticide applications were approved during Trump's term (over 100 of which are banned or scheduled to be phased out in other countries). As a prominent environmental lawyer, Kennedy would know that he enabled a Trump-appointed judge to overturn the Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council decision, which created much higher judicial hurdles for the implementation of environmental regulations.
How Kennedy was able to persuade former President Trump to adopt a more cautious environmental stance against pesticides and other chemicals is worthy of further scrutiny. Perhaps there is growing concern among many Republican male voters about the scientifically well-established male-reducing effects of pesticides on testosterone. It may also be due to the Republican campaign's deals with big donors like Bill Ackman, who supports Trump but rebels against MAGA and Musk orthodoxy by supporting environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing. Such influence, which may make the Trump campaign a little more environmentally friendly, could have a big impact in battleground states.
Democrats should not dismiss the Kennedy-Trump alliance as an unusual sideshow. There may be some substance to the environmental health aspect of this unlikely “team of rivals.” Kennedy’s sincerity on environmental issues, even if it was misguided at times, should not be doubted. He devoted much of his career to supporting environmental groups. As an educator, I have seen the impact he has had on young people around the world who are involved with the Waterkeeper Alliance, an organization with 350 chapters in 48 countries that he has led for more than 20 years. If he focuses his campaign on evidence-based advocacy on environmental health issues and clean water supplies and does not get distracted by other conspiracy theories, he will be able to have a positive impact no matter who wins the election.
