Economic growth and environmental protection are not at odds. They're opposite sides of the same coin if you're looking at longer-term prosperity.

In just about every area of society, there's nothing more important than ethics.

When you have a big, ugly problem, there's never going to be a neat, elegant solution that is totally painless or without a cost.

I'm a straightforward person. I like to be direct with people.

In my experience, the most effective professionals in business and government have the ability to get things done. They're trained to work with multiple stakeholders, to understand how to identify a problem, devise solutions, to compromise and work well with others.

If you've got a bazooka, and people know you've got it, you may not have to take it out.

I've long believed the environmental issue is an economic issue and a political issue. The three are entwined. You can't build prosperity on any basis other than a long-term basis, and you can't do that if you don't have a healthy environment.

Regulation needs to catch up with innovation.

A state-based regulatory system is quite burdensome. It allows price controls to create market distortions. It can hinder development of national products and can directly impact the competitiveness of U.S. insurers.