After admitting entrapment in "airplane purgatory," Robert F. Kennedy Jr. arrived 10 minutes late to sign copies of his book in the MSU College of Law lobby before hurrying off to give a lecture at Wharton Center on Thursday.

Kennedy, a well-known environmental lawyer, spoke to a full auditorium about the United States' environmental destiny in conjunction with the publication of his new book, "Crimes Against Nature: How George W. Bush and His Corporate Pals Are Plundering the Country and Hijacking our Democracy."

"The book is not so much about the environment, but about the corrosive impact of excessive corporate power," Kennedy said during his speech at Wharton. "I'm definitely attacking Bush, but not because he's a Republican. You can't talk honestly about the environment today without being critical of this president."

In the hour-long lecture, Kennedy discussed problems the Bush administration has caused the environment, including dangerous amounts of mercury levels in fish in Michigan and 18 other states.

"We're living in a science-fiction nightmare," Kennedy said. "This is a place where children can no longer engage in the primal act of youth of going fishing and eating that fish."

Students were able to get near Kennedy at the book signing.

"I've been doing papers on the Hudson River, and I know he's involved," fisheries and wildlife junior Kevin Schrems said. "He's an environmental attorney, and that's what I want to be, so I figure he's the guy to emulate."

Kennedy is a licensed master falconer, works as a clinical professor at Pace University School of Law in New York and is the chief prosecuting attorney for the Hudson Riverkeeper, a group committed to protecting the Hudson River in New York.

Jeff Thomson, a general business administration and pre-law senior, said Kennedy presented environmental problems in his lecture in a way that showed how everyday people are affected.