Texas has almost every imaginable state symbol, ranging from a flower, the bluebonnet, to an obscure breed of dog, the blue lacy. There's even a state snack — tortilla chips and salsa.

And now the mayors of five of Texas' largest cities have a bright idea for another one — the compact fluorescent light bulb — and they launched a campaign Friday to make Texans more aware of the energy-saving device.

After a morning of discussions about energy efficiency, green building and conservation efforts, Mayor Phil Hardberger, Houston Mayor Bill White, Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert, Austin Mayor Will Wynn and El Paso Mayor John Cook announced the statewide "Lighten Up Texas" initiative.

The campaign, initiated by the Environmental Defense Fund, is also backed by Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief and Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck.

Switching old-fashioned incandescent light bulbs to compact fluorescent bulbs, or CFLs, is the easiest way people can contribute to energy conservation efforts, Hardberger said. The goal is to have 100 percent participation from Texans by the end of 2008, he added.

It's also a good way to open the dialogue on other environmental efforts.

"This will start to make abstract issues like energy efficiency into something more tangible for people," said Ramon Alvarez, a scientist with Environmental Defense. "It will spur a bigger dialogue about what more the public can do in the way of efficiency and conservation."

CFLs use about a quarter of the energy of regular bulbs and last about 10 times longer.

Replacing one 60-watt incandescent bulb with a CFL in each of Texas' 8 million households could save enough energy to light 200,000 homes for a year, according to Environmental Defense.

It would also have the same impact as removing 55,000 cars from the roads.

But it's not just about saving energy. White said consumers would also save on utility bills.

"Our economic opportunity may be imperiled in the future by rising energy costs," White said. He said that CFLs do not have a lower quality of light.

CPS Energy has extended its CFL rebate program through in-store coupons at H-E-B and Home Depot stores through the end of the year.

The city of Houston has a program through which low-income households can get free compressed bulbs, and White said in the 1,500 households converted, there was a 12 percent decrease in electricity costs.

Friday's meeting of the mayors was their first formal one, although several of them met earlier this year to discuss health care, pension and retirement funding, Hardberger said.

He is hopeful they can meet every six months to discuss common issues facing large metropolitan areas.

"The idea is to be able to get all the municipal leaders of major cities to tackle things together in a group," he said, calling it an educational dialogue where the mayors and management staffs can learn from each other.

"We're living in a world where we ought to have more conversational interchanges. It's very educational," Hardberger said.