The mayoral finalist pledged to create a secondary water system to conserve the resource, open a downtown glass-recycling location and provide showers at City Hall to encourage employees to walk or bike to work.

Buhler also dumped on mayoral opponent Ralph Becker for offering "vague" environmental proposals. And he suggested the state lawmaker has been ineffective in helping fund green measures, including open space, on Capitol Hill.

Buhler also called it "startling" that Bear West, Becker's environmental planning firm, issued the environmental-impact statement for the city's new natural-history museum on precious bench land near the Bonneville Shoreline Trail. The city councilman and self-professed underdog said the museum encroaches on open space and disrupts wildlife habitat.

"If I am elected mayor, I will draw a very firm line in the sand," Buhler said. "No more development east of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail."

In response, Becker chided Buhler for not speaking out during the extensive public process prior to museum construction. He said the EIS did not constitute a favorable recommendation and noted no appeal has been filed on either the final decision to build or the adequacy of the work.

"For Dave Buhler to question my environmental record and my commitment to protect the environment has taken his past grasping at straws and reached new heights of absurdity," Becker said Friday. "I have spent a career helping public agencies and Salt Lake City achieve environmental protection."

Becker is an environmental lawyer who launched the environmental-planning firm Bear West more than 20 years ago.

Buhler said his own green record has been consistent during eight years on the City Council. He pointed to approving more cash for open space, helping preserve the North Salt Lake bench, expanding recycling and allowing park strips in more commercial areas.

He saluted Becker for helping launch the Lee Ray McAllister Fund - the state's open-space funding arm - but complained the account has since been depleted some 82 percent.

"Where is his effectiveness?" Buhler said about Becker.

Becker offered a stern rebuttal, saying without him at the Legislature, the funding "would have been completely eliminated."

"Every environmental-interest group I am aware of has endorsed my campaign," Becker said, insisting his green-city blueprint extends well beyond Buhler's environmental plans.

Buhler's green platform, which he calls his "to do" list, also includes collaborating with USTAR, the Utah Science Technology and Research initiative, to "incubate" clean-tech companies. He also wants to partner with schools and businesses to expand recycling efforts, use less water on trees and coordinate the capital's green programs into one "Office of Sustainability."

Buhler, standing at the sewer-treatment plant gates, called for the 33 million gallons of effluent water pumped each day from the facility to the Great Salt Lake to instead be used for west-side golf courses, parks and the planned recreation complex.

He was joined Friday by city resident Jerry Bergosh, who praised Buhler for efforts on the City Council to preserve the hillside near the mouth of Parleys Canyon. Wasatch Hollow Community Council member Diane Fosnocht also lauded Buhler for trying to save two acres along Emigration Creek.

Becker remained unimpressed, especially over the timing.

"On the day Al Gore wins the Nobel Peace Prize, it seems particularly ironic that Dave Buhler would go after someone who is dedicated to environmental matters."

djensen@sltrib.com

Becker shoots back

Late Friday, Ralph Becker shotgunned a news release defending his environmental record over the past 30 years.

He emphasized 20 specific proposals - from comprehensive bikeways and reducing the city's carbon footprint to restoring the Jordan River - listed at www.ralphbecker.com under a "blueprint for a green city."

Becker said he is happy to compare his environmental record with Buhler's "anytime, anywhere." He expressed "bewilderment" at Buhler's attack Friday morning.

"He has been with us 100 percent of the time," Scott Daniels, chairman of the Utah chapter of the Sierra Club said about Becker, whom the group has endorsed. "The environmental community feels very comfortable with him."

- Derek P. Jensen