Working on climate change day in and day out, I will say there are some days that it can get pretty depressing.

But today is not one of those days.

Today I am filled with hope that January 20, 2009 will prove to be a turning point for the climate and the environment because we have a president who has pledged to do what it will take to change the course of our planet concerning climate change.

Here are some of the lines from Obama’s inauguration speech that give me hope:

1. Our planet was in Obama’s list of five top threats we are facing:

“We are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war…. Our economy is badly weakened…. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

2. The new President knows this won’t be easy:

“The challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America — they will be met.”

3. He knows we can’t do it alone:

“We can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort — even greater cooperation and understanding between nations.”

“With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to…roll back the spectre of a warming planet.”

4. He knows we must find alternative sources of energy:

“We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories.”

5.  And he understands we must keep healthy the lands, water and people of poorer nations:

“To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow.”

6.  He also knows we must acknowledge the impact of our ways:

“To those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world’s resources without regard to effect.”

7. And, perhaps most importantly, he knows that we are all in this together, so we must all work towards a solution:

“As the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself.”

“What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.”

OK, so it is a lot of rhetoric. And maybe he didn’t always have climate change on his mind during each of these lines.

But, today more than ever, I’m inspired to give my all to this most difficult task.

(Image: Rainbow at sunrise over The Nature Conservancy’s Broken Kettle Preserve in the Loess Hills of western Iowa. Credit: Chris Helzer/TNC.)

Tags: Climate Change, hope, Obama