It Won't Be Easy Being Green

In Berkeley's green future, there will be no incandescent lightbulbs, Wedgewood stoves or gas-powered water heaters. The only sounds will be the whir of bicycles and the purr of hybrid cars -- and possibly curses from residents being forced to upgrade all their kitchen appliances.

Six months after Berkeley voters overwhelmingly passed Measure G, a mandate to reduce the city's greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050, the city is laying out a long-term road map for residents, business and industry. It includes everything from solar panels at the Pacific Steel foundry to composted table scraps.

While San Francisco, Oakland and other local governments in the Bay Area have approved policies aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, Berkeley is the first to begin spelling out how people would be expected to reduce their carbon footprints.

Some measures will be popular and easy, like a car-share vehicle on every block and free bus passes. But others will be bitter pills, such as strict and costly requirements that homes have new high-efficiency appliances, solar-powered water heaters, insulation in the walls and other energy savers.

"It will challenge people, and it will be difficult," said Cisco DeVries, chief of staff to Mayor Tom Bates and one of those coordinating the city's greenhouse gas reduction efforts. "But if Berkeley's niche isn't leadership on this issue, then what is it? This is what we should be doing."

It won't be quick, and it won't be easy, especially in a city where even the most mundane zoning minutia can become mired in months of debate. Few of the proposals have been approved yet, and some might not be ready for decades.

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