A New Beginning: Reflections on President Obama's Inauguration

22 Jul 2009 – Jeff Erikson

Like so many other Americans – somewhere north of one and a half million on the National Mall in Washington and countless others across the country – I just wanted to be a part of it. To experience this unique moment in a way that would excite my senses, and that I would remember for a very long time. And so I trekked to the Mall to join the throngs of others who shared my excitement and my hope. It did not matter that I did not have a seat, or that I could not see the inaugural stand. It did not matter that it was cold. It did not matter that I waited for hours for the proceedings to begin. I was a part of it.

The atmosphere in the crowd was one of optimism, goodwill, cooperation, and common purpose. I’d venture to say that all of us were thinking “yes we can”, even if we did not say it aloud (though many did). It seemed that, for those few hours at least, the multiple and profound challenges that the country and the world face were minor obstacles to overcome. And while the President reminded us in his address that all is not well in the world, the message with which many of us left was that if we work together, we can make the world right.

As I settled back into work on Wednesday, I considered the implications of this new presidency on the work that we at SustainAbility do. I drew so many connections between the inaugural speech and our vision of “a just and sustainable world for present and future generations.” Certainly the challenges that our society faces will not go away overnight, although the urgency to begin now has never been greater. As ambitious as President Obama is, the process of governing – with its necessary compromises, deal-making and pragmatic constraints – will limit the ability of government to solve the problems we face. The participation of – and leadership by – the private sector is a necessity. And a business opportunity.

If we are to “roll back the spectre of a warming planet”, as the President said on Tuesday, then the way we generate and use energy must be reinvented (the IPCC says an 80% reduction in carbon emissions is required). If we understand that we cannot “consume the world’s resources without regard to effect”, but at the same time we aspire to “extend opportunity to every willing heart”, we need to create an economy where generating value and enabling full employment is not based on consuming more and more stuff. While government must put policies in place which enable a more sustainable society, it is the private sector which will largely determine its success. After all, who better than the private sector knows how to turn obstacles into opportunity?

Will the President’s ambitions make it easier or harder for our clients to be successful at achieving their own ambitions? I believe that the challenges for our clients may well be greater in the short term as something new and different is being created, but the difficult work done now will lay a foundation for a more stable, more peaceful and more sustainable society than if we continue along the current path. Those companies out in front of the curve, who drive the dramatic changes required, will be those best positioned to benefit from those changes.

As President Obama has reminded us, the great transformation that has begun is not about him, it is about us. When we look back on this week, we may well see it not as the moment when one individual rose to power, but rather as the moment when we as a people took personal and collective responsibility for a more just and sustainable world. As President Obama stated so eloquently: “Let it be said by our children’s children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter”.