A Candidate Who Cares About the Environment: Kennedy’s Commitment to Our Planet and What American Values 2024 is Doing to Promote It

By Leah Watson, The Kennedy Beacon

“The USDA is supposed to be supporting sustainable farming, but it is just a tool for Big Agriculture, and the EPA is obviously not protecting communities like East Palestine,”
-Scot Quaranda, American Values 2024 environmental specialist.

The Environmental Team at the Kennedy superPAC American Values 2024 (AV24) is taking on the challenge of informing voters about Kennedy’s lifelong commitment to environmentalism, hitting the ground running with two major issues: damage ecosystems from chemical spills and American foods that are riddled with toxic chemicals. Led by environmental specialist Scot Quaranda, the department is working to promote awareness of these and other key issues championed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Quaranda became involved with environmentalism in his youth “more or less because of Bobby,” he said. His first environmental project, one that inspired a life of passion and hands-on commitment to the environment, was working with the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater organization, one of the lead Hudson Valley environmental groups along with the Riverkeeper organization.

New York-based Riverkeeper is a clean water advocate dedicated to reclaiming the Hudson river from its polluters. For years, companies like General Electric dumped millions of pounds of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) into the Hudson River. Despite efforts to diminish these toxic sediments, progress has been slow, and the river is still highly contaminated. Kennedy devoted 33 years to Riverkeeper as its Chief Prosecuting Attorney until 2017. During Kennedy’s tenure, Quaranda learned about pollution issues affecting the river and their impact on wildlife. As a child, Quaranda had a rich love for nature and the environment, and his work with the Riverkeeper projects sparked an interest in protecting nature that led to his career in environmentalism. Inspired by an environmental venture in the 6th grade, learning how pollutants affect the water and the fish inhabiting it, Quarada went on to do environmental work for 25 years in various ways. Now, he is leading the Environmental Team for AV24, yet another Kennedy-influenced endeavor.

Scot Quaranda at 10,000 Islands Observatory

Now, instead of PCBs, the focus is plastic. One ongoing project at AV24 is the fight against plastic pollution. One way Quaranda is confronting this issue is through the social media platform X (formerly Twitter). He is collaborating with members of the Unity Council in East Palestine, Ohio, where last February a Norfolk Southern freight train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed, impacting the health of nearby communities. The majority of the train’s devastating spills were chemicals used in the production of plastic. Quaranda is focused on spreading awareness about Kennedy’s plastic pollution platform through an X space community. 

The space on X is slated to include two members of the Unity Council and will focus on the spill and the subsequent explosion that impacted the community. The space will also explore the connections between this spill in East Palestine and others, and showcase the fact that what happened in Ohio is not something unusual, but something that is happening everywhere.

“We typically don’t have candidates that really care,” said Quaranda. “Biden didn’t even really want to make an appearance in East Palestine after it happened and [even] their local congressperson is ignoring them.” Most politicians travel to these affected areas for a mere photo op to feign support for these suffering communities. Kennedy, however, is representing the people of East Palestine and works directly with people affected by the spill.

Regenerative Agriculture and the Health Freedom Movement

Kennedy published a 10-point plan to combat plastic pollution in The Hill. His strategies include supporting an international plastics treaty, modernizing recycling, restricting hazardous chemicals, and instituting a ban on fracking, among other things.

The ongoing intergovernmental negotiations to create a binding plastic treaty are set to be complete by the end of 2024. “If [Kennedy] was at the table, it would probably look a lot different than with Biden at the table,” said Quaranda, referring to Kennedy’s lifelong commitment both personally and professionally to protecting the environment. 

“We can see the direct impacts of this industry and how that connects to literally thousands of communities around the United States that are in the same boat and are being polluted by forever chemicals or plastic pollution,” said Quaranda.

Another aspect of Quaranda’s work at AV24 is the creation of a panel dedicated to regenerative agriculture. Regenerative agriculture has been at the forefront of Kennedy’s campaign, and this panel will provide a way for people to connect directly with organic farmers, ranchers, and environmentalists. It is planned to be a panel of people both knowledgeable and passionate about the environment. “They care about their health, their children’s health, and the health of the planet,” said Quaranda. The panel should serve to be a place for people to support and learn about Kennedy’s campaign and his environmental efforts as well as highlight the work of the people across the country who really care about people’s health and the environment. 

“Regenerative agriculture is one of the keys to the future of our country,” said Quaranda, “It’s wrestling control away from Big Agriculture that is feeding us toxic food, driving out small family farms, and taking away our choices of what we are putting into our bodies, food-wise”

As Quaranda develops the vision and the team for the Environment vertical at AV24, he will be reaching out in many directions to voters who share Kennedy’s commitment to a cleaner, safer, sustainable environment. And two groups Quaranda is hoping to connect with are Gen Z and Millennials, people who he believes haven’t been co-opted yet by the Democratic Party. 

“We literally have never had a better environmental candidate than [Kennedy]” said Quaranda, remarking on how Kennedy has stood with multiple communities across the country. He has stood with people in West Virginia against mountaintop removal. He has stood with communities across North Carolina and the Midwest dealing with pollution caused by industrial pig farms. He has stood against the massive hog farm industry that has polluted waterways and produced toxic food. He has also stood with Native communities in the Dakotas against the Dakota Access pipeline. 

Regenerative agriculture Permie Garden from Meadow Bee Farm in Vermont

The Environmental team is also working to link some of its key issues with the Health Freedom Movement. 

Throughout the country, toxic food that is labeled as “natural” is being consumed and harmful chemicals are sprayed over crops. “One of the key things that Bobby says he’s going to do when he gets into office… Not only is he going to overhaul the FDA… he’s going to clean house in the USDA and EPA,” said Quaranda.