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Rahm Emanuel, Former Chicago Mayor and Author of The Nation City

Published on26 FEB 2020

Rahm Emanuel discusses his views on the role of local governments in tackling some of the greatest challenges in society and reflections on his journey from the White House to Congress to City Hall.  

On the role of local governments: “The center of gravity of politics has moved to local government and when you really think about where you work, where you live, where you send your kids to school, how you get to and from work, the benefits of the community, etc., those are all services that are delivered by local government. What’s slightly different or another layer on top of that, things that used to be left to the national government… cities are taking the lead.”

On local governments leading on climate change: “Now the truth is, mayors should take a leadership role. Cities are one of the biggest contributors to climate [change] – to greenhouse gas emissions…. So they should lead. But the truth is you need a federal government that incentivizes certain policies. You can’t do it in a patchwork effort.”

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