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From: Peter Newman
[mailto:P.Newman@...]
Sent: Monday, January 26, 2009 2:05 AM
To: eric.britton@...
Symbolism in the City of
Hope
By
Peter Newman
PB Professor of
Sustainability
Curtin University
January 20th I
joined the crowds in Washington DC to welcome the new President and to enjoy
the sense of hope he exudes to the whole world. Several symbolic matters helped
make my day...
1.
Leading
up to the Inauguration we saw a plane crash in New York but instead of hitting
buildings, as it could have, it landed safely on the Hudson River without loss
of life. It was the opposite of 9/11 and a wonderful omen for the new
president. USA Today called it the ‘Miracle on the Hudson’.
2.
The
day was bright but cold and we were all told to be patient as no cars were
allowed into the city and we had to use a Metro that was not designed to carry
1 million people. But it did. I was around when the Metro was being discussed
and so many economists and transport planners said it would be a waste of
money. DC is now built around the train and it carries 200 million passengers a
year. What a sight for a transport activist like me to see the capital of the
USA completely car-free. And it worked well. People queued and enjoyed the
public space of the transit system as we kept each other warm. At one point as
we inched towards a station Exit one person called out: ‘Can we reach
that Exit? Yes we can!’.
3.
‘We
cannot afford any longer to consume the resources of the world without respect
to the effect’, so said President Obama in his speech. I have not heard
an American President say that before. I hope it is not just symbolic. I
believe that the new Administration will begin a far-reaching set of programs
to wean the US off oil and other fossil fuels. Already the signs are there that
the Green Economy will not just be an empty flourish. The appointments of
Steven Chu in Energy and John Holdren in Science gives us hope as they have
impeccable sustainability credentials.
4.
As
I was watching the Inauguration I looked up at one point and saw an eagle
sitting on an overpass bridge next to the Mall gazing down on proceedings. It
seemed to be perfectly at ease and was just checking out the million or so
people down below. This symbol of American nature seemed to be a reminder that
the natural world will be watching all our pretensions and puffed up ceremonies
to ensure we don’t continue to consume the world.
5.
Ted
Kennedy’s collapse during the Inauguration dinner was also a reminder of
the fragility of life. The Kennedy family are of course associated with another
era of hope that was shattered by violence. It is a reminder of the seriousness
of the issues facing the new President and that hope hangs by a thin thread.
From: eric britton
[mailto:eric.britton@...]
Sent: Thu 1/22/2009 7:57 PM
To: Peter Newman
Subject: Resuming full service .
Dear
World:
We, the United States of America, your top quality supplier of the ideals of
liberty and democracy, would like to apologize for our 2001-2008
interruption in service.
The technical fault that led to this eight-year service outage has been
located, and the software responsible was replaced November 4. Early tests
of the newly installed program indicate that we are now operating correctly,
and we expect it to be fully functional on January 20.
We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the outage. We look forward to
resuming full service and hope to improve in years to come. We thank you for
your patience and understanding,
Sincerely,
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
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