Oprah's "Green" Hankie
Posted November 7, 2008 in The Media and the Environment
In a night of remarkable images and memorable moments, one of the perhaps most mysterious for the millions of people watching around the globe was wondering who Oprah Winfrey was crying on as President-elect Barack Obama took to the stage in Chicago's Grant Park.
Turns out that "Mr. Man," as Oprah dubbed him, has been a huge mystery for both Oprah and inquiring minds everywhere. But the mystery is no more: according to the Chicago Sun-Times, the human hankie was Sam Perry, the President of Ascendance Ventures Inc, a high tech venture development firm based in California.
Most intriguingly for us here at NRDC, Sam is also an active member of Environmental Entrepreneurs, a national community of business leaders who partner with NRDC in advocating for good environmental policy while building economic prosperity.
According to US Magazine, Sam and Oprah had never met but found themselves crushed together in Grant Park. "We were packed so closely you couldn't move," Oprah recalled. "If I had had my hands down, I would have been in this guy's butt." (Sorry ... I couldn't resist ... how often do I get to quote and link to US Magazine?!?)
Watching Oprah and the Rev. Jesse Jackson cry will always stand out as memories of Tuesday night fade. Among the hundreds of thousands celebrating as a new leader prepared to claim his spot in history, it was remarkable to see two such well known faces cry with joy and realization of the struggles that paved the path to the first African American President.
As I wrote the next morning, I too was moved by the realization that a President Obama could finally provide the leadership necessary to meet our energy and climate challenges, that he has the ability to unleash American ingenuity to deliver the solutions to protect what he called "a planet in peril."
That's not to say that there's not a lot of difficult work ahead we seek to turn election promises into policy. But having business leaders like Sam Perry and his E2 colleagues makes the green dream seem even more achievable.
