COVID-19 vaccination effort

Columbia Riverkeeper supports the COVID-19 vaccination effort

Columbia Riverkeeper’s mission is to protect and restore the water quality of the Columbia River and all life connected to it, from the headwaters to the Pacific Ocean. Within that mission lies a commitment to support our communities’ right to clean water, clean air and to lead healthy lives. The global COVID-19 pandemic greatly impacts the communities we serve in a myriad of ways. Columbia Riverkeeper supports the COVID-19 vaccine and our local health department’s vaccination campaign. We believe this is in full alignment with our organization’s mission and values in support of science-based decision making. It is also wholly in line with Columbia Riverkeeper’s history of addressing environmental justice and equity issues impacting the ability of our local communities to survive and thrive. 

An organization ostensibly focused on children’s health, founded by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., has been sowing distrust of the COVID-19 vaccine. Mr. Kennedy was the co-founder and President of the Board of the Waterkeeper Alliance, an organization of which Columbia Riverkeeper is a member. Mr. Kennedy resigned from the Waterkeeper Alliance board in August 2020.  Through his Waterkeeper Alliance work, Mr. Kennedy has been at the forefront of protecting our nation’s waterways from pollution. While we respect the tremendous work Mr. Kennedy has done over the decades to ensure that communities across the country have clean water, we at Columbia Riverkeeper fundamentally disagree with his extreme position on vaccines. We will continue to focus on fighting for clean water and healthy communities and support science-based decisions to promote public health. 

If you have additional questions or concerns please contact Brett VandenHeuvel.