Not everybody can afford a hybrid vehicle and not everybody is keen on having a car they must plug in before they can drive, but if we're going to save the planet from global warming then we must start somewhere. That usually means California.

The Golden State is the second largest consumer of gasoline and diesel fuel in the world (second only to the U.S. itself), Assemblymember Fran Pavley told members of a conference on alternative fuels last week in Santa Monica. The July 21 meeting was attended by key energy experts from across the state.

The legislator from Agoura Hills hosted the event to heighten awareness on California's growing dependency on foreign oil and the need to cut back on the fossil fuel gases that contribute to global warming.

It's a monumental task, this environmental stewardship, but Pavley has been on the front lines before. She's considered one of the state's leading generals in the war against harmful automobile emissions and has written landmark legislation that sets stringent standards for California vehicles.

The best way to deal with the problem is to promote the development of alternative fuels, Pavley says. In California, the two most popular alternative fuels are biodiesel and natural gas. Biodiesel is intriguing because you can mix it with regular diesel fuel and your engine doesn't have to undergo an expensive conversion. It's also the nation's fastest growing alternative fuel. Think vegetable oil, not petroleum oil. You can store it in your garage and pump it yourself.

Hydrogen and cellulosic ethanol are also gaining popularity. Conventional ethanol is derived from grains, but the cellulosic variety comes from a wider variety of biomass feedstocks and can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 85 percent, experts say.

Agricultural wastes are a huge untapped resource, so what are we waiting for? "It's imperative that we have a cellulosic ethanol refinery in operation now," says Spencer Swayze of Ceres, Inc., a Thousand Oaks-based genomics company.

Finally, there's simple electricity. The newest model in the industry is the plug-in hybrid vehicle, one that boosts the nongasoline performance of a regular hybrid.

Anything that takes us away from petroleum consumption is a step in the right direction. Alternative fuels are economically feasible and good for the environment.

Government and private industry should both move forward on developing them.