Hurricane Katrina. Al Gore's movie, "An Inconvenient Truth." Soaring gasoline prices. Endangered polar bears.

These recent events are serving as a wake-up call for many locals, giving urgency to concerns about global warming and the need for energy conservation.

Napa is joining -- some would say belatedly -- a grassroots movement of citizens, businesses and local government officials frustrated that Washington hasn't shown more leadership in curbing carbon dioxide and other gases that trap heat in the atmosphere.

Acting on the mantra "think globally, act locally," Napa leaders are expanding their agenda from potholes and illegal signs to "green" building ordinances and ways of reducing Napa County's "carbon footprint."

For many, the prospect of global warming brings moral and environmental concerns into sharp focus. They fear that today's actions, or inactions, will haunt future generations.

National self-interest and economics motivate those who want to reduce U.S. dependence on oil from world trouble spots. They see energy conservation and development of alternative energy sources as making long-term financial and security sense.

Public opinion has reached a tipping point, said Bob Massaro, a crusading "green" builder who owns MCM Healthy Buildings in Napa.

The Gore movie contributed, Massaro said. So did media articles such as the Newsweek cover story, "Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid." And not least, anxiety about global warming's effect on Napa's celebrated wine industry.

"Does Napa have a wake-up call because the core of its economy is at risk? I think it does," Massaro said.

Following on the heels of Sonoma, which has a countywide Climate Protection Campaign, elected leaders in Napa County have begun meeting to discuss a local response to environmental change.

"We don't have to bludgeon people with doom and gloom," said Ann Hancock, head of Sonoma's Climate Protection Campaign. "We have to inspire people to have faith that they can make a difference."

Sonoma County measured its emission of greenhouse gasses, establishing a baseline for measuring energy conservation.

"The reality is, we have a big carbon problem here," Hancock said. Sonoma's carbon emissions from electricity consumption, gas-burning trucks and cars and other components of the American lifestyle are roughly 12.5 million tons per year ... and growing, she said.

When Napa County calculates its own greenhouse emissions, "you'll find the same thing," she said.

Locally, St. Helena is at the forefront of beginning to grapple with the issue. Six months ago the Upvalley city established a Climate Control Task Force.

St. Helena is studying the benefits of solar cells at the fire station to generate electricity, Mayor Del Britton said. The sewage treatment plant may be a natural site for clean energy generation, he said.

Government needs to set an energy example for its citizens, Britton said. "It's something everybody in the back of their minds wants to be doing, but they need prodding," he said.

Napa Council

thinking green

For the last few years, Mark van Gorder was the lone voice on the Napa City Council asking for a green building ordinance that incorporated the best practices for energy conservation. Now the rest of the council is getting on board.

The issue of global warming can seem "insurmountable," causing individuals to despair that they can make a difference, van Gorder said.

"Every tiny bit (of conservation) we can contribute will help," van Gorder said. By analogy, he asked, "Which drop of rain didn't contribute to the 2006 flood?"

Napa should offer incentives to builders who adopt energy-conserving practices into their projects, said Councilwoman Juliana Inman, who took office in December.

A person doesn't have to be 100 percent convinced that global warming is real to support conservation measures, Inman said. "I think skyrocketing oil prices will get everybody on the bandwagon," she said.

Because of Henry Gundling, an investment advisor who sits on the Gasser Foundation's board of directors, the local philanthropic organization is about to push energy conservation when it makes grants to local social service agencies.

Gundling recalled hiking the Sierra Nevada last year and feeling "a lot of despair about the state of the world." The result is Gasser's Sustainable Napa Valley Initiative which will be rolled out this spring.

Grant recipients will be required to do energy audits of their buildings, with Gasser possibly helping finance improvements, Gundling said. As a first step, the foundation will install solar panels on its own Soscol Avenue office building.

"It's exciting," Gundling said of this local effort to reduce oil consumption. If America had a greater national commitment to conservation, "we could disconnect from the Middle East and Venezuela, places that don't like us and where we're giving them billions of dollars to shoot at us and do not nice things to us."

At a tipping point

The tipping point for Michael Abramson, general manager of Napa Sanitation District, came in the form of a call from The Register asking what his agency was doing to conserve energy.

"I rolled my eyes when you called," Abramson said two weeks later. Global warming had been a personal concern, but he hadn't incorporated it into his to-do list at work, he said.

After the Register call, Abramson said he began noticing media articles on global warming. The issue was everywhere he looked. When he went to a statewide sanitation district conference, global warming was the hot topic.

"I'm convinced it's an issue that's not going away," said Abramson, displaying the zeal of convert. "This is not just a blip where everyone gets upset about greenhouse gases and moves on to something else."

Similar to Abramson, the Napa County Transportation Planning Agency was preparing in December to become a countywide forum for the cities and the county to discuss issues of common interest, but not global warming.

Elected leaders realized their oversight at the last moment. The environment is now on the agency's list of proposed discussion topics.

If any issue merits broad public debate, it's climate change, said Napa Mayor Jill Techel. "You can't see that movie and not be affected," she said of "An Inconvenient Truth."

Napa's planning staff has been quietly working on a green building ordinance to promote energy conservation through voluntary or mandatory means. A proposal may come to the City Council later this year.

The county will be discussing energy issues when the Board of Supervisors takes up a new general plan for the unincorporated areas, said Hillary Gitelman, the county's planning director.

A citizens advisory group couldn't agree last summer on "global warming" as an issue, settling instead on the term "climate change," which is less politically charged.

Less important than the choice of words is getting the issue out there, said Supervisor Diane Dillon. Government needs to set an example for the wise use of energy, she said.

Some people will argue about man's role in global warming, Supervisor Mark Luce said, but if you couch energy conservation in terms of reducing America's dependence on foreign oil "you get a lot of consensus."

As a former environmental engineer for Chevron, Luce said he and his co-workers were convinced that greenhouse gas emissions from gasoline and other forms of carbon energy were pushing global warming.

Americans need to take a hard look at themselves and ask if their lifestyles make sense, Luce said. "It never made sense to burn gasoline like it's going out of style," he said.