Aug 23 - McClatchy-Tribune Business News Formerly Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News - Gina Smith The State, Columbia, S.C.

Columbia might join nearly 300 other cities in working to cut greenhouse gas emissions like carbon dioxide and methane by 7 percent by 2012.

The effort would include citywide changes such as:

-- Retrofitting city buildings with energy-efficient lighting and buying only energy-efficient appliances. There might be opportunities to use hydrogen fuel cells instead of traditional engines in city equipment.

-- Converting the city's diesel vehicles to biodiesel or buying hybrid vehicles while building more trails and bicycle paths to encourage alternative transportation.

-- Making the pumps in the city's water systems more efficient and using methane gas as an energy source at the city's wastewater treatment plants.

The pact, known as the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, is not binding, and there are no estimates on how much it would cost to implement the ideas.

"We have to do something. We can't just wait," said Anne Sinclair, a City Council member who, along with Mayor Bob Coble, is driving the effort.

The decision comes after news the city might violate air-pollution standards if the federal government tightens restrictions on the amounts of certain air pollutants. Columbia also is close to violating the standard for fine particulate matter, or microscopic grains of soot.

The University of South Carolina is building an alternative-energy plant projected to cause 10 times more particulate matter near campus.

Also, the state is working to meet federal ozone standards before new sanctions are imposed.

"If we use cleaner fuels and get people out of their cars -- walking -- then we not only reduce greenhouse gases, but also we reduce the amount of ozone in the air," said Myra Reece, the state Department of Health and Environmental Control air division director.

"The city is showing a lot of leadership by signing the agreement."

If Coble and Sinclair can convince the five other City Council members in September to sign the pact, they will set up a "green committee" and hire a consultant who will put a dollar figure on it and recommend ways to reduce the city's air pollutants.

Much of the city's pollutants come from electricity and vehicle exhaust, Reece said.

Already, Charleston, Sumter and Greenville have signed the pact, which commits cities to meet or beat targets known as the Kyoto Protocol. While the targets were embraced by more than 140 other nations after a 1997 global warming conference in Kyoto, Japan, the U.S. Senate never ratified the agreement.

Since then, mayors across the nation have taken up the cause to reduce emissions by 7 percent below 1990 levels by the year 2012.

"The environmental issues that we see in the world are the challenge of our time," Coble said. "The global warming, the pollution we see here in the Midlands, are at a critical stage. Now is the time to act."

In addition to the pledge, Coble said the city is working on ways to make the city greener. Those include:

-- Working with Richland County to find money to run the bus system

-- Partnering with USC to create a district where hydrogen fuel cells would be researched, used and promoted in place of other, depletable power sources.

Staff writer Sammy Fretwell contributed to this report. Reach Smith at (803) 771-8462.