Philadelphia became the first major American city to create a cabinet level position for sustainability. It’s part of the city’s new vision from Mayor Michael Nutter who took office in January. The man chosen to head this new department is a man who doesn’t have a long track record in the environmental movement, but is no stranger to the inner-workings of government. Mark Alan Hughes has taught public policy at the University of Pennsylvania’s Fels Institute, Harvard’s Kennedy School, and Swarthmore College; been a senior fellow at Brookings and the Urban Institute. Since we’ve never had a sustainability director before we thought we’d better bring Mark Alan Hughes in to do a little explaining. The interview was conducted by Joel Rose on July 19, 2008.

Watch now: WHYY interview with Mark Alan Hughes