Gina McCarthy, head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, visited Connecticut on Tuesday.
It was a homecoming of sorts for McCarthy, who was commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Protection from 2004 to 2009.
During her trip, the administrator visited Hartford and Bridgeport, as well as New Haven, where she toured the Sound School.
Speaking alongside Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, McCarthy said President Obama's mission is to turn the challenges presented by climate change into more American jobs. "We are going to turn our climate challenge into an economic opportunity for the United States to grow into a low carbon future," she said. "How you get there is going to be dependent on every state stepping up and doing what's best for them environmentally and economically. As a whole, we'll make this work."
McCarthy cited the Dominion Bridgeport Fuel Cell in Bridgeport as one example of new jobs created by the green economy. She also met with employees at the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection in Hartford.
This report includes information from The Associated Press.