Addressing a sea of audience members enthused about a new direction for America, keynote speaker Robert F. Kennedy Jr. led a rousing discussion of the future of American energy policy at Thursday night's Mario Savio Memorial Lecture.

The one-hour discussion held at the Berkeley Community Theater covered a broad range of issues, ranging from the future of green energy to the culpability of the Bush administration in undermining environmental regulation. Among Kennedy's pet issues is the transformation to a green economy, which primarily entails changing from gasoline to alternative energy.

"The biggest issues we are facing today ... (are) the ways we use energy. It touches everything that we do that we do," Kennedy said to an audience of more than 200 people. "We have a choice today-we have so many great opportunities now in this country to take leadership on these issues."

In the hour of discussion, Kennedy outlined many innovative measures that Americans, business and government can take to facilitate greater energy efficiency. One noteworthy idea, audience members said, was to have consumers cooperate with energy distributors to automatically shut off needless appliances during peak hours.

"We need to create a marketplace where every American becomes an energy entrepreneur," Kennedy said. "Right now we have a marketplace that is rigged to reward the least efficient (polluters)."

His discussion disregarded challenges many economists say such a transformation would present. He drew a comparison between such changes and the 19th- century abolition of slavery in the British Empire, which many claimed would wreck the economy. As Kennedy related, it instead ushered in the industrial revolution by forcing a transition from human to mechanical energy.

In the spirit of his late father and uncle, who both mobilized young people to become involved politically, Kennedy's style energized several UC Berkeley students in attendance.

"I actually study rhetoric, but I think I am going to have to change that after hearing what Mr. Kennedy had to say," said freshman Elena Wagoner. "It was very inspirational ... there are a lot of problems that he called my attention to."

As a member of America's most famous political family, the possibility of political office surrounds Kennedy. He recently said he would not replace Sen. Hillary Clinton should she become Secretary of State in president-elect Barack Obama's administration.

But in response to an audience question, he said he has not made up his mind whether to serve in the Obama administration.

"I have spent a lot of time talking with my family about whether it would be better for me to wait until the second term," he said to applause and cheers from the audience.

Tags: ENVIRONMENT, BERKELEY COMMUNITY THEATER