Redford critiques 'failed leadership'
Robert Redford, an actor well known for his environmental activism, talks with Chris Matthews about the Apollo Group, the importance of alternative resources and why America needs a new presidential administration.
In the first clip, Redford discusses the hypocrisy of an economy fueled by oil. There is no future in oil, as it will soon run out. He says that alternative resources are necessary, but because President Bush and Cheney are so rooted in the oil industry, they haven’t acted on any alternative fuel sources even though ‘they’re real, they’re here and they’re available now.’
Matthews asks Redford about Dick Cheney’s ‘Energy Task Force’ which was conducted in secret. Redford says that he believes it’s because the task force was designed by energy companies for ‘self-interested reasons.’ He says that oil and gas groups are obviously going to do all they can to ‘undercut’ alternative fuel options because it will detract from their profits.
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In the second clip, Redford enforces his points. He says that the United States will be unable to deal with the Middle East until there is new leadership with a new outlook. He berates politicians like Cheney for living in the 50s, saying, “We live in a new time and a new world and they don’t see it because their interests are too narrow.�
Redford admits that quitting oil entirely is ludicrous. However, he says, “It’s just that you’ve got to get off the total dependency of it because it’s so bad for our national security, our environment.�
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