It's probably obvious by now that I've been thinking a lot about topics like sustainability, the role of infrastructure in society, and climate change for a while now.  Along the way, I've read a bunch of books on these and other topics.  I'll have to admit, I didn't get through all of them -- some were pretty dry and uninteresting and some mainly pointed out the problems without offering much in the way of solutions. 

It's been a little more than a week since our keynote sessions at the 2008 BE Conference in Baltimore -- plenty of time to decompress and reflect.  I've had the opportunity to speak to a number of people regarding my keynote on Sustaining Infrastructure, so I thought it would be useful to respond to some of the comments I've heard or read as well as re-emphasize some of the points I was attempting to make.