Environment Sizzles for the Kerrys

Environment Sizzles for the Kerrys

Cambridge captivated by this hot topic on the eve of Earth Day

By Libby Hughes, Boston Bureau for Cape Cod Today

On one of those rare, April sun-clad days on a Saturday afternoon in Cambridge, Teresa and John Kerry wooed a large crowd into the pristine white sanctuary of the First Parish Church in Harvard Square. The church has played host to many intellectual panels and esteemed authors over the years.

It was no surprise that the Harvard Bookstore in Cambridge sponsored a book talk and signing for the power couple on their newly released book, This Moment On Earth (Public Affairs, New York).

Due to traffic, Teresa Heinz Kerry arrived 20 minutes late. No one cared. Anticipation hung in the air. Finally, they stepped to the platform: Teresa in a simple black pantsuit and John Kerry in a charcoal suit, pale blue shirt, and peach-striped tie.

Kerry and the Clean Air Act

John De Villars, a friend and former head of environmental affairs for Michael Dukakis, introduced the pair. De Villars called Kerry someone with a "lifelong commitment to the environment," which was encouraged by his mother. He noted that the Sierra Club nicknamed the senator "an environmental hero;" Kerry was responsible for cleaning up Boston Harbor; purifying Cape Cod water; and controlling acid rain through the Clean Air Act (1963, 1970, and 1990).

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