Utah is a red state fast going green.

David Long is a good example. A Brigham Young University professor of electrical engineering and self-described "middle-of-the-road conservative," he embraced environmental protection when his work with radar imaging brought global warming into sharp focus. Now his family recycles and, when he isn't riding his bicycle to work, he drives one of the family's two hybrid cars.

"It's not a political issue when the earth is warming," he said.

"When God gave us the world to live on, he didn't give it to us to ravish it and rape it."

For Jamie Spencer, a young mother in Salt Lake City, environmentally friendly behavior is less a matter of politics than everyday practice. She and her husband switch off room lights when not in use, they carry groceries home in reusable bags, recycling is routine and her husband commutes to class in Provo on mass transit.

"I've been told all my life that one person doing a little bit makes a big difference," she said. "You have to believe that you are part of the solution, not part of the problem."

Conservative politics aside, Utah, like the rest of America, is integrating green behaviors and attitudes into everyday life.

"People are starting to come around and see how green can help them personally," said Tim Kenyon, a market analyst for the consumer survey called Green Gauge 2008.

The review, done every other year since 1992, sized up the views of more than 2,000 Americans last spring and found that even in economically tough times, people are more concerned than ever about going green to keep their families healthy, save money and protect the environment.

The Green Gauge, released last month, found that the economic climate has motivated Americans to become greener, especially when it comes to energy use. About eight out of 10 people surveyed said "sometimes" or "often" they were forgoing leisure trips and using the most fuel-efficient vehicles -- up 9 percent or more from a year earlier.

About 85 percent of adults said there was a stronger desire for environmentalism than in the past.

"It goes across the political spectrum, political leanings," Kenyon said.

Sure, this is Utah, where the state's two Republican congressmen were ranked worst on environmental issues in the nation by a national GOP conservation group. It's a place where some legislators have lumped homegrown groups, Utah Moms for Clean Air and Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment, together with the Sierra Club as "radical environmentalists."

It's the place with the second-highest output of toxic materials in the nation; and where legislators are prodding the Republican governor to pull out of a regional climate change pact.

But Spencer, for one, thinks those attitudes are shifting. She believes lawmakers are out of touch with mainstream Utahns like herself.

"I think Utah is changing little by little," she said.

"I figure the politicians have to change eventually."

Some already are. Salt Lake City has been working on reducing its carbon footprint for years. Moab and Park City leaders have laid down clean-energy challenges to residents. And Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. has pushed forward with renewable energy standards, tough energy efficiency goals and participation in the Western Climate Initiative.

Celeste Council, a Holladay resident and mother of a 3-year-old girl, points to the example of her neighbors recycling as an example of how green practices are becoming mainstream. She used to be the only one. Now the families that used to overfill two garbage bins do fine with a single one and a bright blue recycling barrel.

"There's a change that's occurring," said Council, a realtor who matches eco-minded buyers with suitable homes and who has developed her own newsletter on sustainability.

Will small personal efforts of people like these change the course of climate change? Maybe not. But, unanimously, they agree such efforts are important.

"Little things we can do in everyday life can make a big difference."