I've been here for so long that I've seen all the ups and downs, ... I've seen what works and what doesn't and how we learn from our mistakes. Things that are right for a city at one point go away, so there is no use being nostalgic.

City planners took pieces of New Haven, broke them up, and created redevelopment plans, ... Some of them turned out to be wonderful, but in other parts housing was thoughtlessly torn down and very bad decisions were made.

When the Lee administration decided to create all one-way streets, they weren't necessarily thinking about the fact that they were serving people who lived in the suburbs and were trying to get out of the city, not into it, ... The mayor was forced to accept the fact of suburbanization, but he didn't think about the ramifications.

Green roofs, roadside plantings, porous pavement, and sidewalk gardens have been proven to reduce flooding. They absorb rainwater before it swamps the streets and sewage systems.

I have been fighting climate change for two decades, and people often ask me how I remain hopeful in the face of extreme weather and grim forecasts. The answer is simple: I see countless solutions spreading across the nation and across the world. But we need more investment.

The fossil fuel industry commands outsize sway over U.S. politics, markets, and democracy. I knew these companies were formidable, but when I served on the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling, I got a close up view of how the industry disregards government safeguards.