LODI - Lodi officials say about half of the city's electricity is purchased from renewable sources such as wind, water or solar power. There are electric cars among the city's fleet. And nearly every city department boasts some sort of recycling effort, whether it's office paper, asphalt or cardboard boxes.

Some, like local environmentalist Kathy Grant, are convinced Lodi could do even more to preserve the environment.

Recycling bins could be placed in public parks or new development could be required to meet energy efficiency requirements, for instance.

"There's so much more that we could be doing," said Grant, who leads tours of Lodi Lake and teaches students about the Mokelumne River watershed.

In fact, city planners are proposing Lodi begin going the extra mile. Lodi is just one of hundreds of communities statewide and throughout the country studying how it can adopt "green" city policies or seek an environmentally friendly stamp of approval from some outside organization.

"Citizens and local leaders have been frustrated by the lack of leadership on the federal level in fighting global warming," said Glen Brand of the Sierra Club. "They're taking action on their own."

The Sierra Club runs Cool Cities, a national campaign that encourages cities to implement environmentally friendly policies and practices that combat climate change. Under the program, the group has designated 124 California cities as "cool cities."

The minimum requirement for such a designation is to sign the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, a pact to voluntarily reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2012.

Many cities on the Sierra Club's list merely meet that requirement. Others have taken smaller, additional steps, such as installing energy efficient light bulbs in their city buildings and forming committees to formulate sustainability plans.

Also among those cities is Stockton, listed in Popular Science magazine as one of the top 50 green cities in the nation in part for its recycling programs and residents' use of public transportation.

San Joaquin County government leaders, too, recently agreed to begin analyzing how county programs, operations and policies might be contributing to climate change.

In Lodi, planners want to establish a sustainability program. A consultant would study areas for improvement in how the city operates and recommend a plan for action. City officials also are investigating the possibility of seeking certification from an outside environmental organization, something that might help the city land more grant money and market itself as a green locale.

The effort could cost tens of thousands of dollars, but supporters say it's money well spent and that some state mandates already are inching closer and closer toward the same goals.

"The whole point is to first clean up house and say, 'How can we do things better?' " said city Planning Manager Peter Pirnejad, who also expressed his desire to develop a city building code that would mandate environmentally friendly development. "Are you going to get ahead of the bus or behind the bus? Lodi's in a perfect position ... to get ahead of this curve."

City policymakers have expressed support and skepticism for the green proposals. Over the course of two public meetings on the matter, some City Council members, who ultimately will decide whether Lodi continues pursuing green initiatives, expressed concerns that environmental policies might push businesses and industries elsewhere, or that valuable city staff time could be better served on other planning items.

Pirnejad argued that green policies can, in fact, attract jobs. He cited businesses that supply their waste products to other industries, such as cork manufacturers who supply scraps to builders, who use it for flooring.

"A lot of it is, it's just the right thing to do," he said.

Brand, of the Sierra Club, said the green push by many communities is not a fad.

"This is not about feeling good by just talking about (sustainability)," Brand said. "It's about demonstrating that, to the public and other elected officials, that smart energy solutions or clean energy solutions are cost-effective, they're practical, and they're politically popular."

Contact reporter Daniel Thigpen at (209) 367-7427 or dthigpen@recordnet.com.

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