The elegant chandeliers of the Gates Concert Hall slowly dimmed, engulfing the crowd in silent anticipation. Every eye was impatiently fixed towards center stage and the lone, illuminated podium that rested there. An endless murmur of curious voices surrounded me as I absentmindedly doodled on this morning’s program containing environmental sustainability information. After several stretched minutes of waiting, a figure appeared towards the back of the stage. His pace was proud and dignified as he approached the podium. His features became increasingly pronounced as he stepped towards the spotlight, in unison with the crowd’s steadily escalating applause. He politely hushed the audience and in a clear voice introduced himself to the crowd as Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Kennedy’s speech on sustainability wasn’t so much a lecture as it was a relaxed conversation. He addressed the hundreds in the audience as comfortably as if he were speaking to old friends, using everyday diction and throwing in jokes to balance out the heavy arguments he was presenting to the auditorium. He even good-naturedly mentioned that he had to “make this short” because he had plans to go skiing with his family shortly afterwards. His easygoing personality created a comfortable atmosphere and as I let my mind wander, I could have sworn I was in a familiar living room listening to him instead of a crowded auditorium. This down to earth approach to his speech gave his rhetorical presentation a sense of pathos, which helped his audience immediately connect to him.
Kennedy proposed “nature is the infrastructure of our nation, the basis of our economy, and the unifying agent of humanity.” He helped the audience relate to this concept personally by addressing specific situations where lifestyle choices are greatly influenced by our surroundings. He appealed to his listeners by acknowledging the strong ties that Colorado has to nature and our environment, especially through recreational activities such as skiing and hiking. Kennedy spoke of the American responsibility that we as a nation share; we must conserve our resources as well as the natural beauty of our planet for the generations to come. After all, other countries like England, Sweden, and Iceland have already reduced their carbon emissions and have begun to build a sustainable and balanced lifestyle. Israelis have begun converting cars off of conventional, inefficient gas. Kennedy addresses that if America followed the initiative of these innovative countries, our great nation could restore its prestige, economy, and health in merely three years.
At one point, he also compared sustainability to slavery; our country was initially skeptical of the abolishment of slavery because it was such a significant force on the antebellum American economy. It took a long time, but our country slowly worked toward abolishment and implemented the process in ways that wouldn’t overwhelm the nation. Eventually, slavery was completely eliminated and the country once again thrived as the industrial revolution began. This can be a model for today’s energy crisis. Kennedy proposes that if our nation begins to slowly instigate non-carbon energy into our economy, it will eventually become universal and stimulate the economy.
He shared with us his well-developed positions concerning the ever-diminishing state of our environment and its disastrous consequences, speaking with enormous passion and genuine concern. Kennedy recounted the pride that he had as a young boy for his country; he wants America to once again be looked upon as a world power instead of a shameful country that merely depletes the world’s resources and pollutes the atmosphere. He was earnest in encouraging the people sitting before him to take action against the “greedy” coal and oil industries. In order to work towards sustainability, Americans must deny the “energy from hell” that the corporate oil and coal companies produce. Instead, he challenges us to look towards “energy from heaven” such as geothermal energy that is cheaper and cleaner. Kennedy’s enthusiasm was successfully contagious, as was apparent when at the closing of his lecture he received a spirited standing ovation from the persuaded crowd.
When Kennedy completed his final words of gratitude and returned to the shadows of the far stage, the auditorium emptied as the lobby quickly filled with students, faculty, and community members of all ages. Groups quickly converged throughout the spacious hall, each excitedly discussing the different methods and innovative ideas that Kennedy had just fervently proposed. Some, emboldened by the lecture, even proposed ideas of their own to help increase sustainability within their own communities and homes. Kennedy’s development of ethos was extremely successful for his rhetorical presentation of sustainability. There was a noticeable sensation of hope and pride encompassing the crowd. This was an indication that Kennedy had successfully conveyed his own ideas to the majority of his audience.
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