Earthjustice President Trip Van Noppen is blogging from Washington, D.C., where he is attending the inauguration of Barack Obama and events surrounding the inauguration.

Since 1969, I’ve been on the Washington Mall as a citizen expressing my political beliefs—demonstrating against the wars on Vietnam and Iraq, joining the March for Women’s Lives. I’ve been on the Mall as a citizen awed by the power of the memorials, felt the place as a temple of much that is great in this country.

I’ve never been here as a citizen for an outright, unabashed celebration. People all acknowledge the hard times we are in and the challenges we face, but want to celebrate right now.

The celebration is also fueled by our joy at finally coming to the end of the Bush/Cheney years; the end of an administration that has run roughshod over our rights as citizens, trampled our standing in the world, wrecked our economy, and put deregulation and fossil fuel production at the top of their "environmental" agenda.