After staying up until 5AM Central European Time to get word that Ohio had gone Obama (after which I could finally sleep) I had a rough -- but happy -- day yesterday. Lots of people came by my office -- not all Germans, but all foreigners -- just to congratulate me. Then later another one of the Americans brought in bottles of champagne, and my entire department was toasting the new president.
But through the elation, I had a feeling of resolve. Of renewed purpose. And I think I can articulate where this feeling comes from. We have work to do.
I told the story to a German friend of mine.
When Bill Clinton was elected in 1992, I was 18, and starting my first year of college. The country was coming out of a recession, but I hadn't felt it. I was starting my college years, and the Clinton years altogether were some self-centered times for me. I had little purpose about me in college, and I felt as if life were about getting what I could out of the world, rather than putting something back into it.
By the time 2000 rolled around, that had started to change. I was still enjoying myself by then, living in New Orleans with a new girlfriend. But I was newly interested in bringing myself out of the rut I had been in for so long, connecting with the community in which I lived, leaving my pursuit of temporal things somewhat and tending to long-neglected spiritual matters. But still, like many in our nation, I had come of age through some of the most abundant times this country has known. I had little interest in political matters, and only fleeting anger as the events of the election year unfolded.
Little did I know. 2001 was a roller coaster of a year. First, the economy faltered, and along with it a business I had started at just the wrong time. I wound up broke, living with relatives in Atlanta with my pregnant wife, trying to find work. Then 9/11. Suddenly, I found a new sense of urgency. Looking for a way to serve my country, I pursued what I thought would be the best use of my talents and interests, and went back to school, dedicated to research in renewable energy.
I was willing to engage. To sacrifice something. I didn't join the military or the Peace Corps, but I did pass up more lucrative options that were available to me -- business or law school, for instance -- to pursue something I thought would be, for me, a more valuable service to God and country. I was 27, broke and in debt, and the sole breadwinner for my young family when I started graduate school in 2002. I received my doctorate in 2007, and was lucky enough to be awarded an NSF fellowship to study in Germany with a famous scientist at the Max Planck Institute. I moved my family (my wife, my six-year-old daughter and my baby son) to Germany at the beginning of 2008. We hope to return to the States sometime in the next year or two.
Although we have actually improved our financial situation considerably since I started school, between my wife and I we still have student loan balances in the neighborhood of $200,000. This debt will likely hinder us financially for a long time to come, but we still feel like we are doing the right thing. My wife and I made these decisions together, and we will happily live with the consequences. It is worth the extra struggle to have a great reason to get up in the morning.
There has been, however, something missing, and that's leadership at the national level, and much sense of progress on the big problems I have geared up to face. I have been at this long enough to be familiar with at least the broad outlines of the renewable energy industry in America. And while there is some incredible innovation going on, and more than a few forward-looking businesspeople willing to invest in that innovation, it has long been clear to me that this is not just another sector of the economy. It's not IT. It's generally much more difficult to create a successful renewable energy company than it is an IT company. Innovations in the latter usually lead to a premium product, but innovations in renewable energy, with few exceptions, cannot command premium prices, since the end product -- energy -- is already well-commoditized. The only way that the economics of renewable energy become feasible is when the costs of pollution and the geopolitical risks associated with the dirtier forms of energy are worked into the price. And doing that takes political leadership. It is my firm belief that we won't see much progress in renewables until we see significant political change.
Since I became reengaged in politics, we have lacked the leadership needed to bring about that change. But now we have a real chance to address this problem that has festered for so long. It is this possibility that excites me about this election more than anything else. Most of us are familiar with Obama's plans to drive the development of the clean and renewable energy industry with government investment in research, and policies that promote the realization of the costs of pollution in the production of energy. After many years, I finally feel like our nation will have direction on this issue.
But I have been paying attention long enough to know this, also: the reality of politics is that compromise will be required. Incremental steps will be, more often than not, the order of the day. But the patient know that incremental steps are sufficient, so long as they are taken. Many of us who have waited so long for real leadership in government will have to retain our patience, and try our best to recognize the value in small steps forward.
So I am savoring victory these days. But I also recognize the volume of the work to be done, and I am cognizant of my role in getting it done. Professionally, I am prepared to do my forthright best to make a difference, and politically, I am prepared to be patient.