As students from more than 35 universities and colleges gathered at the Harvard Kennedy School for a weekend focusing on public service and leadership, the Institute of Politics hosted Senator Edward Markey for a JFK Jr. Forum, which was moderated by former U.S. Ambassador Caroline Kennedy. Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, focused his remarks on his just-announced Green New Deal and on the existential threat posed by global climate change. He also called for a generational shift in leadership to address the world鈥檚 most urgent issues and encouraged the gathered students ignore the current heated political atmosphere in Washington and follow the call to public service.
Markey said the Green New Deal legislative proposal calls for a 10-year plan to mobilize the country to deal with the issue of climate change and move to 100 percent renewable, clean energy.
鈥淔ailure is not an option and the rest of the world will not provide the leadership only the United States can provide,鈥 Markey said. 鈥淵ou cannot tell the rest of the world what to do if you yourself are not in fact engaging in those actions.鈥
Markey said supporters of the plan want to mobilize 鈥渆very city and town across this country鈥 and will turn it into a voting issue if legislation is not passed.
鈥淲e can feel the green generation rising up, demanding that a solution be put in place so that we can avoid the worst, most catastrophic consequences,鈥 Markey said.
Markey also said he would continue to fight for net neutrality, a concept he had championed as a legislator.
鈥淚n the next couple of weeks, I'm going to introduce a new law into the Senate that will put down a marker from where net neutrality should go,鈥 he said. 鈥淚'm going to continue to fight very hard on net neutrality. It is not unlike climate change. It's a generational issue. It's what the 21st century should be about and I am not going to go away until we restore it as the law of the land.鈥
Turning to the idea of public service, Markey remembered the effect President John F. Kennedy鈥檚 iconic call had on him and others of his generation.
鈥淓veryone who wasn't part of that ruling establishment from the preceding 200 years watched [Kennedy鈥檚 inauguration], and then he said, 鈥楢sk not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country,鈥欌 Markey recounted. 鈥淭hat became a moment of great change in our country. It was no longer about the past; it was about the future and what we could do to make a difference in our world.鈥
鈥淚 decided in my third year at Boston College Law School to run for State Representative from Malden, and I continue to be the lowest paid graduate of my law school class,鈥 Markey quipped. 鈥淏ut I'm a very happy person because my clients are working people who need help. 鈥hat's really what public servants do, they work for those people.鈥
Markey鈥檚 appearance was part of the Institute of Politics鈥 National Campaign for Political and Civic Engagement.
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Photography by Alex Wong