Derek Okubo, senior vice president of the National Civic League, takes to the pages of National Civic Review to discuss the possibility that the 2008 recession had the effect of elevating sustainability from an environmental and ethical imperative to an economic one as well. As one city manager put it: "One thing is for sure. With the economic crisis, the sustainability movement now has a platform". Okubo interviews city managers and staff from four municipalities (El Paso, Texas; Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Mankato, Minnesota; Eau Claire, Wisconsin) to examine how local governments transitioned to sustainable policymaking and the economic as well as environmental and aesthetic benefits it has reaped.

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