She can't stop thinking about it.

The 20-year-old Layton resident caught a ride to Salt Lake City to watch Mayor Rocky Anderson's global warming presentation at the City Library a couple of weeks ago. She was researching a speech-class project, but also wanted tips on how to cut her own greenhouse gas emissions.

Watkins admitted she doesn't do enough. "I try to keep my lights off and I try not to drive too much," she said. "But I don't take any drastic measures. That's why I'm here."

The measures to cut greenhouse emissions don't have to be drastic. But they will require new ways of living.

Our share of the blame: In 2001, Utah was responsible for 68 million tons of carbon dioxide, according to a new report by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, a nonprofit federal government watchdog organization.

Using information gathered from state and federal agencies, the report shows that emissions from coal-fired power plants accounted for 57 percent of Utah's greenhouse gases. Motorists on Utah roadways account for about 28 percent.

So, to arrest greenhouse gas emissions, the path is clear: Consume less fossil-based power and fuel. Lots less. And get corporations on board and demand the government find alternatives.

Ultimately, that could mean sacrifice on a grand scale for the global good, a notion Americans rallied around during World War II but have not since.

Telling people to use less, especially when Utah enjoys some of the lowest energy costs in the nation, isn't a popular message.

Given the lack of federal leadership, "I'm sort of chirping away in the mine here. Whatever I'm doing is inadequate," said Beverly Miller, director of Utah Clean Cities, a Department of Energy project that seeks to improve air quality and increase energy security by reducing petroleum use.

As for actual sacrifice, "I don't think anyone has really found a way to do that, unless he's a guy who rides a bike, doesn't have air conditioning, grows his own food," Miller said.

'Trickle up' leadership: As of July, 164 countries had signed on to the Kyoto Treaty, which commits industrialized nations to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, mostly carbon dioxide, by 5 percent to 7 percent below their 1990 levels.

The treaty was introduced in 1997. But in 2001, President Bush, heeding oil companies' reasoning, said the United States would not join because observing the protocols would harm the economy. The only other industrial nation to follow suit was Australia.

Left without federal guidance, U.S. cities, including Salt Lake City, Moab and Park City, are taking up the slack. As of July, 272 mayors representing more than 48 million Americans accepted the Kyoto challenge.

Park City Mayor Dana Williams calls this "trickle-up" leadership.

"We're not waiting for the federal government, we're not waiting for grants, we're just doing it," he said. "It's going to be the cities that change the world."

Moab Mayor Dave Sakrison said local governments have tremendous influence over communities. "There's not a lot I can do about the [federal] government," he said. "And people have got to start understanding that. It's got to be grass-roots."

Three years ago Moab was named the first Environmental Protection Agency Green Power Community in the nation after 15 percent of the community joined the city's green power purchasing program.

In June, Park City and Summit County converted their transit system to 20 percent biodiesel fuel. Last year, Park City Transit burned about 250,000 gallons of regular diesel. Shifting to 20 percent biodiesel, which yields 18 percent fewer greenhouse emissions than diesel, means the fleet will avoid emitting more than 378 tons of CO2.

Under Anderson's leadership, Salt Lake City government pledged to cut greenhouse emissions by 21 percent by 2012. By the end of 2005 - seven years early - the city already had exceeded its Kyoto goal, avoiding 84,192 tons of CO2 emissions.

Anderson emphasized that the greenhouse gas savings were solely from efficiency in municipal operations and don't include further achievements through recycling or building standard changes.

While proud of the city's accomplishment, Anderson said what's needed is a radical shift to low- or nearly no-carbon energy sources. We have the technology, he said; can we develop the will to use it?

"The successes we've had are important," Anderson said. "But in the long run they're not going to make the difference. It's going to take us getting over inertia, and politicians sold out to the oil and gas interests, and catch up with the rest of the world [to create] a new carbon-free economy."

State climbing aboard: Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. said stabilizing global warming will take long-term public policy fixes. "We need to take climate change as an issue that needs public policy actions," he said. "I am taking this very, very personally."

Huntsman said the state is joining cities and counties to work on solutions, including encouraging industry "to behave differently" through a system of incentives.

To learn more, the governor is reading An Inconvenient Truth, a print version of Gore's presentation on global warming in his documentary. Huntsman also issued an executive order to improve by 20 percent state building and agencies' energy efficiency by 2015.

"I expect [administration managers] to quantify and put forth real numbers," he said.

But energy use rises: Yet for all those efforts, Utah's power consumption is "trending up," said Julie Orchard, spokeswoman for the state Public Service Commission. "People want more efficient electricity, but at the same time they are building larger houses, [using] more air conditioning," she said.

The Utah Department of Transportation sees the same trend. The number of vehicle miles traveled has more than doubled between 1986 and 2005, when motorists clocked 25.13 billion miles on their odometers.

Most vehicles produce several times their weight in greenhouse gases each year, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. In fact, most of the fuel in gas tanks converts to CO2.

Alternatives: Coal is a fossil resource that would allow American energy independence for centuries. But coal is dirty, yielding about twice as much CO2 as natural gas per unit of power.

Alternative energy advocates are growing increasingly impatient with governmental support of petroleum economies at the expense of environmental health.

"We have a certain lifestyle in this country that we're not going to change easily," said Tim Wagner, director of the Utah Sierra Club's Smart Energy Campaign, which is anti-coal and pro-renewable energy.

According to the Energy Atlas, a nonprofit organization examining Western energy supply issues and potential solutions for the future, Utah has great alternative energy potential.

Geothermal, solar, wind and biomass resources could yield 102 million megawatt hours of power per year, roughly equal to current use, Energy Atlas says. Yet alternative energy accounts for less than 5 percent of the state's electricity mix, earning Utah an "F" from the Union of Concerned Scientists' 2003 renewable energy report card and a spot in the organization's Hall of Shame for letting the resources go begging.

Even if Utah power generators were to stick with coal - and there is no indication otherwise - new technology could allow plants to capture greenhouse gases for storage underground.

What's being done

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions doesn't have to start with the federal government. Citizens and cities already are working to curb global warming. Here are some examples:

Park City in June switched its transit fleet to 20 percent biodiesel fuel, allowing the city to avoid putting 378 tons of greenhouse emissions into the atmosphere.

* The city buys 28 percent of its power through Rocky Mountain Power's Blue Sky program. About 700 households also participate.

* The last Friday of each month is designated as a no-drive day. People who ride bikes or take the bus will get freebie certificates they can redeem at coffee houses.

Salt Lake City has received local, national and international recognition for its conservation programs.

* Since 2002, using Kyoto Treaty goals, the city has avoided emitting 84,192 tons of CO2 emissions by ordering energy efficiency in buildings, buying wind power, installing LED bulbs in traffic lights, conserving energy and using alternative fuels in the vehicle fleet, using co-generated power at the city waste water treatment plant and capturing methane at the landfill for reuse.

* Nearly 4 percent of residents and businesses in Salt Lake City purchase wind power. The national average is 1.4 percent.

* The citywide recycling program has decreased CO2 emissions by more than 30 tons per year.

The Utah Transit Authority is reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by:

* Switching to 5 percent biodiesel fuel, avoiding 2.6 tons of CO2.

* Reducing idle time for warming up buses, avoiding 3.6 tons of CO2.

* Enrolling 2,500 people in its van pool program, avoiding 2.2 tons of CO2.

The state of Utah, under an executive order from Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., will reduce energy needs by 20 percent by 2015.

Some savings already have been achieved:

* During the past year, vehicle fleet and agency managers used 26,915 fewer gallons of fuel for the fleet's 7,400 cars, trucks and heavy equipment, avoiding 283 tons of CO2.

* State government-wide agencies already have dug into the 20 percent reduction goal by figuring out their total greenhouse gas emissions during fiscal year 2006, which ended June 30: 169,842 tons. A 20 percent reduction over the next nine years: 33,968 tons.