It's hip these days to talk the environmental talk, to say you want to curb emissions, use less gasoline and water, tap into alternative energy.

It's quite a bit harder to actually walk the enviro walk. But under Mayor Martin Chávez and the City Council, Albuquerque is miles ahead of many other cities. Beyond signing on to the Kyoto targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the city has:

• Pledged to buy only alternative-fuel vehicles for its fleet.
• Gotten water customers to reduce their water use by 30 percent per person.
• Captured methane gas at two of its landfills, using it to power ground-water cleanup or burning it off to reduce emissions. Methane is also captured at one of the city's sewer plants and used to power the plant.
• Used about 15 percent wind power on government buildings, with a goal of increasing that number and adding solar power.
• Saved oil from fleet vehicles to heat city buildings via "wasted-oil" heaters.
• Converted 65 to 75 percent of its traffic signals to LED bulbs, which use one-tenth the power of incandescent bulbs.
• Required city government buildings bigger than 5,000 square feet to meet LEED green building standards.
• Expanded mass transit with Rapid Ride express buses.
• Set aside 3 percent for energy-efficient projects.
• Adopted a "Planned Growth Strategy" to help limit urban sprawl.
• Removed non-native vegetation from the bosque while restoring native trees.
• Added curbside recycling at homes and large apartment complexes.

At the state level, Gov. Bill Richardson has announced plans to cut the state's greenhouse gas emissions to year 2000 levels by 2012 and 75 percent below 2000 levels by 2050.

Even though the problem is global, as in warming, the solution can start locally. Armando Cobo, an architect who specializes in green residential buildings, says "Albuquerque is right there. Believe it or not, we are one of the cities that is leading this."

Thanks to Albuquerque, the Desert Southwest just got a little greener.

Author: Editorial Staff
Publication: Albuquerque Journal
Date: December 30, 2006