It's a struggle that's existed for years: Salem juggling a need for economic development with some residents' preference for a green city with a small-town feel.

That struggle ignited when the city allowed development of the former Elizabeth Campus. It sparked again last year, when a concrete plant was proposed to be built near a residential area.

Another example from this week: Salem is the only locality in the region pursuing an intermodal rail yard that could bring substantial truck traffic and other environmental concerns to the small city, while at the same time, the city council passed a resolution to show that it's a leader in slowing global warming.

Salem became the first locality in the Roanoke Valley to pass a resolution endorsing the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, a pledge to measure and eventually reduce the level of greenhouse gas emissions in the city.

Blacksburg endorsed the agreement in 2006, and 10 localities in Virginia have also made that pledge. Roanoke and Roanoke County have not endorsed the agreement, but they are members of another green governmental initiative, Local Governments for Sustainability, or the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives.

On Monday night, Salem City Councilman Chris Clemens made a motion to pass a resolution endorsing the agreement, and the other council members unanimously approved the motion.

"I feel like we're doing the right thing," Mayor Howard Packett said Wednesday. "We're trying to do what a lot of communities are doing, and that's being more environmentally friendly. I think we're out ahead on a lot of things, and that's where we want to be."

Diana Christopulos, director of the Roanoke Valley Cool Cities Coalition, approached the city council about endorsing the agreement backed by the coalition a year ago. Since then, she and city planner Ben Tripp have worked together to get Salem involved in the initiative.

Salem's endorsing the agreement is a small step but a crucial one, said Gregg Lewis, a Roanoke Valley architect whose firm promotes low-energy buildings.

The city council's endorsing the agreement "gets them to come on board and look at what their current emissions are," Lewis said. "You can't make any improvements, really, unless you understand what the baseline is."

Salem does make efforts to be green. Recycled water is used to irrigate city landscapes. City maintenance vehicles and school buses run on biodiesel. City Manager Forest Jones also forbids employees from leaving city vehicles idling, said Melinda Payne, a city spokeswoman and director of planning and economic development.

The same night the city council endorsed the mayors' initiative, they also unanimously voted in favor of creating an urban forest overlay district to increase the city's tree canopy -- one of the goals of the mayors' agreement.

The city's interim goal is to balance economic incentives with environmental ones, Packett said. Supporting the intermodal facility, whether it's located in Salem or not, falls in line with that goal, he said.

Those opposed to the intermodal yard need to take a look at Front Royal, Packett said. That city has new homes, new shopping centers, a country club, a golf course, all built after an intermodal rail yard was put there, he said.

"People need to look at things at all angles rather than say they don't want these things," he said. "They need to do their homework."

Packett said he's read a 100-page report on intermodal yards across the country. "The economic impact on this region, no matter where it goes, is going to be tremendous."

The intermodal yard would also take trucks off Virginia's highways, and that could reduce the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by tractor-trailers, said Mark McClain, who is on the board of directors and treasurer of the Roanoke Valley Cool Cities Coalition.

"The problem is it creates other emissions that are local in nature and harmful," McClain said. That would be the case regardless of where the facility is located, he said.

Salem has to balance development with an environmental sensitivity, he said. "We think they're going to do that."

Endorsing the mayors' agreement is an interim step toward that goal, McClain said. Now the city has to follow through on the pledge, and he said he believes it will.

Salem is seeking out someone to help measure the city's carbon footprint, Packett said. In Salem's city hall, departments have listed things they can do to conserve energy, such as turning down the thermostat and turning off lights in unoccupied rooms.

The city will also use its publications and Web site to encourage residents to do things to conserve energy, he said.

Those environmentally friendly actions also save money for the city, Packett said.

"This is a long-term project," McClain said. "It doesn't end when they become a cool city. That's just the beginning."