Their first event will include giving away compact fluorescent light bulbs. "If everyone in the state used them, we might not need to build new power plants," she says.

The Utah group will be loosely affiliated with the national Interfaith Power and Light group, which has sent a letter, signed by leaders of a dozen different faiths, calling for the president and Congress to take immediate action on global warming. Emmi acknowledges that a lot of Utahns probably do want some action from their government. However, she says, she is committed to keeping the Utah Interfaith effort free from partisan politics. They'll focus on things like making buildings more energy-efficient.

Emmi knows individual churches are already working through their larger denominations on energy efficiency and recycling and a variety of projects. (For instance, according to church spokesman Scott Trotter, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has partnered with Rocky Mountain Power on a conservation program that has resulted in big energy savings. The lighting in the Church Office Building has just been updated and the more efficient lamps and ballast consume 50 percent less energy than the old lighting did.)

Emmi believes the Interfaith Power and Light can help Utah's various denominations to inspire each other. And she credits Holladay United Church of Christ and First Unitarian Church for inspiring her.

At First Unitarian, for example, Joan Gregory coordinates the environmental ministry. Over the years, the Unitarians have tried a dozen approaches, from teaching classes on voluntary simplicity to setting up a table on Sundays where worshippers can drop by to learn more about carbon offsetting.

"We have to do something more than just wash our cups," Gregory says, referring to the fact that they avoid Styrofoam.

As for her Quaker congregation, Emmi says they've spent months studying about their impact on the Earth. They are considering going solar. For one thing, solar panels might encourage others, Emmi says. "If a congregation of only 40 people can do this ... "

Of course, Emmi adds, they know their 100-year-old building needs storm windows and weather-stripping. "Solar is sexy," she says. But the congregation might not have enough money to do everything they'd like.

The new offices of the Episcopal Diocese of Utah, currently under construction on 100 South, may well be the best local example of an energy-efficient church building.

Steve Hutchinson says the diocese has constructed and remodeled a number of buildings lately, learning more about green construction as they go. (Their new church in Price is insulated to a value of R44, for example.)