We are two weeks removed from Earth Day and the repeated pronouncements by businesses, government agencies and individuals about the multitude of ways they are going green.

I’m all for more conservation and alternative energy. It makes sense, both for the future of the planet and health of one’s wallet.

However, there are cautionary tales in the greening of America. Consider what has happened with Xcel Energy and its plans to close the Cameo Generating Station in De Beque Canyon and a similar antiquated power plant in Denver.

Xcel announced last fall that it intended to close the two coal-fired plants as part of its effort to meet Gov. Bill Ritter’s climate action plan to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in Colorado. Xcel plans to replace the relatively small coal plants with a new, natural-gas fueled generating plant in the Denver area because natural gas plants emit far less CO2 than coal plants.

That announcement brought squalls of protest from the likes of Grand Junction state Sen. Josh Penry, who argued the closures were evidence that Western Slope jobs were being sacrificed to meet Ritter’s environmental goals.

This newspaper took issue with Penry at the time, saying the goal of reducing CO2 emissions is a necessary one.

Now, however, Xcel faces opposition from another source. The Colorado Office of Consumer Counsel, the state-funded entity that lobbies for the interests of state utility customers, said Xcel should delay closing the two plants.

The reason? Natural gas prices are rising and may soar dramatically in coming decade, said OCC Director Jim Greenwood. And that could mean an even greater jump in the prices consumers pay for electricity than the rate increases just recently announced.

It appears going green isn’t as simple as picking a more environmentally friendly technology and switching to it. That nasty old brute — cost — often gets in the way.

That isn’t something unique to Xcel or the generating of electricity.

In planning for the new Chipeta Elementary School, School District 51 decided to make the new building environmentally friendly.

“One of the things we’re recognizing is that there is certainly a difference in cost between traditional construction and sustainable construction,” said District 51 spokesman Jeff Kirtland. “We’re trying to be selective with what we use, realizing there is a cost difference in construction, but also a payback” from going green.

The district expects Chipeta Elementary to be silver certified under the LEEDs certification program rather than the higher-level gold or platinum certification. LEEDs stands for U.S. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. Certification comes through the U.S. Green Building Council.

Private businesses face similar tough choices. For instance, The Daily Sentinel will begin constructing a new building off H Road, near the airport, later this year. The Sentinel is committed to making the new building as green as possible, within budgetary limits. The building will include solar panels and many measures designed to conserve energy. But all of those measures will be more costly than was originally hoped, especially when some of the expected incentives for going green proved not to be available in this case.

There are paybacks for going green, in reduced energy costs over time, not to mention the benefit to the environment. Businesses, school districts and most everyone else must balance the up-front costs against the reduced utility costs over time.

But the Xcel case highlights a broader problem: How rapidly can we give up our reliance on fossil fuels, especially those that are most abundant and relatively inexpensive?

Experts estimate that the United States has enough recoverable coal reserves, based on today’s consumption rates, to last 250 years.

If electricity from natural gas becomes more costly — and solar and wind generation are unable to cost-effectively replace existing generation — the Office of Consumer Counsel won’t be the only entity arguing for coal. Electric consumers nationwide will demand it.

As we look for more ways to go green, we must also recognize the economic realities. More emphasis is needed on developing cleaner coal technology. Otherwise, skyrocketing costs and growing demands for electricity may result in hasty decisions to build new coal plants with the same old CO2 spewing technology.