Screw Kermit the Frog: It's not that hard being green. It does take a lot of commitment, time, money and some compromises from the government, businesses and residents for a city to lessen its negative impact on the environment, but other cities have and are pulling it off.

In February, Popular Science ranked Austin, which was first in the nation to establish a municipal green building program and has an ambitious climate-control plan, as 10th on its list of the 50 greenest cities in the country. Elsewhere in Texas, Fort Worth (15), Amarillo (34) and (holy sh*t!) Laredo (39) made the cut. Meantime, San Antonio was absent from the list, which took into account factors such as a city's recycling efforts, public transportation system and green building policies.

“As the nation's seventh largest city, San Antonio faces a lot of challenges when it comes to the environment,” Mayor Phil Hardberger said in a statement to 210SA. “We have a lot of new development, which leads to more people and more traffic.”

Where does San Antonio stand when it comes to protecting the environment? Local experts weigh in on what we're doing right and where we need improvement.

THE GOOD

The city government has taken important steps in the right direction, many environmentalists said. Some highlights: In 2007, the City Council adopted a resolution mandating that new city facilities must meet certain guidelines set by the U.S. Green Building Council. The Downtown Operations Department implemented a water-recapturing program for water used in pressure-washing the River Walk.

The city purchased 25 hybrid vehicles for city use last year, for a total of 91. The city also allows its employees to ride the bus for free, and VIA uses a lot of propane as an alternative to diesel fuel and gasoline. Hybrid-vehicle owners can park free at city meters.

“The city and the county both right now just really are showing a lot of interest and enthusiasm in making the city greener in the broadest sense,” said Bill Barker, executive director of Solar San Antonio and former director of planning at VIA.

San Antonio is known for its water conservation efforts, which Austin actually studied when working on its own new water policies. San Antonio Water System offers rebates to residential customers for buying water-saving devices and swaps low-flow toilets for older, less-efficient toilets.

SAWS has partnered with local businesses to install high-efficiency toilets, water-saving faucets and similar devices.

The city's automated collection program, which makes recycling more convenient, has nearly doubled the amount of materials that San Antonio residents recycle to roughly 43,000 tons last year.

“I recycle everything that I can,” said Andrea Hofstetter, 27, shopping outside Central Market recently. She also uses “smart” light bulbs and reuses copy paper at work.

Still, we throw away 400,000 tons of trash every year, and it's estimated that anywhere from 50 to 80 percent of that is recyclable.

“Our residents are doing a good job but obviously we can all do better,” said Stephen Haney, assistant solid waste manager with the solid waste department.

Efforts to use solar energy are also progressing. Recently, the federal government gave the city a $200,000 grant for researching and implementing advances in solar energy use. CPS Energy gives rebates for residents and businesses that install solar power on roofs. Fort Sam Houston has the largest installation of photovoltaic panels in the state, soon to be surpassed by another local structure at the Pearl Brewery.

THE NOT-SO-GOOD

“The biggest challenge in San Antonio is that we just refuse to really put a bridle on development. Issues on open space, natural areas, our parks, are certainly one of the litmus-test issues for how green San Antonio is,” said Harry Noyes, president of the Bexar Audubon Society.

Developing the land north of 1604 and other areas means acres of trees are getting cut down, reducing the benefits of tree cover, which helps clean the air and keeps down the “urban heat island” effect.

And the hotter the temperature, the more energy people use to run air-conditioners.

Although the city has adopted many environmentally friendly building codes and energy-conserving measures, it should require residents and developers to do the same, said Loretta Van Coppenolle, conservation chair of the Alamo Branch of the Sierra Club and vice chair of the San Antonio Area Progressive Action Coalition.

“We need to have leadership that is willing to think outside the box and to be truly leaders, not just followers. Not just always wondering, ‘Gee, I wonder if the developers will like this,' but think truly in terms of what's best for the city,” she said.

Green building — which emphasizes energy efficiency, water conservation and material use and reuse — is important because 48 percent of the carbon emissions in the U.S. are from buildings, which is higher than the transportation sector, said Bob Harris, a partner at Lake/Flato Architects who is on the board of directors for the U.S. Green Building Council.

“I feel that there's now a recognition that action is required,” Harris said. “It's a long, slow process like everything else in San Antonio, but we're getting there.”

Van Coppenolle is also concerned about CPS's efforts into expanding the South Texas Project nuclear plant, even as the city pushes forward with its utilization of solar energy. (District 8 Councilwoman Diane Cibrian said the city wants to diversify the city's energy portfolio.)

New development over the vulnerable Edwards Aquifer recharge zone pollutes the water supply, local environmentalists say. So can new roads built there, such as the proposed U.S. 281 toll road. An environmental study says the toll road wouldn't cause significant damage to the water supply, residents or wildlife, but critics of the toll road have filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging that study.

More development and more roads also have led to more vehicular travel, said Solar San Antonio's Barker. That means more gasoline consumed and more carbon emissions produced.

Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff has announced he wants to revisit the possibility of implementing a light rail transit system, which would combat that problem. Such measures might be necessary so San Antonio can meet the Environmental Protection Agency's new air quality standards.

Barker said more compact development, such as downtown development, would also help green up San Antonio.

“Nobody is talking about not growing,” Barker said. “But there's a quality of growth that can make a big difference.”

Jessica Belasco | 210SA contributor

Jenina E. Hernandez and Clint Hale contributed to this report.