In July 1965, an internal report from the U.S. Department of Labor was leaked to the press. The author was then-Assistant Secretary of Labor Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and the details of his report -- The Negro Family: The Case for National Action -- angered many leaders and supporters of the Civil Rights Movement. Moynihan's dire pronouncements on black family life in American ghettos ultimately pitted him, a lifelong New York Democrat and avowed champion of the urban poor, against the left for much of his political career. His liberal opponents accused him, in short, of ?"blaming the victim.?

The stimulus package passed by Congress last year included $43 billion in sustainable-energy investments, and a bill meant to reduce the country's contribution to climate change now waits in the Senate. But is national policy keeping pace with the strides many cities are taking toward sustainable development?