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Vol,t7 No.3 FEBRUAW2OO9
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musxctan, -Legena.ary
enaironmentalistand human rigltts actiai.st,
Melissa Etheridge
speaks out h) DebrvCasrner She's won m Aeadeny Award, two Grm'l|y's, betr m activist for the envimmet, civil rights and gay rights, healttr acttvist, breaEt enffisrivorsd@pars$toherfou childEn bom to two different Lesbim lE tdeF. Of her tea album telea*d, two have gone gold, two pldinum anrl three have gone multi-platinm, makiag herone ofthe best selling fmale singer-sngwritels of all tine, The talef,ted md outspoken Melissa Etheridge was in twn for the Biodiesl Conferto 6ce, aod I % fortete be ableto interview herand di*6s her iwolvesst in thewirenmedal movmeqt. But we elsotalked about politics, herhealth md frmily isues.
In this Q&A, Etheridge is cleady I pasionate about her activim as sh€ is about her musicl CL How did yo$get invohrcd stth the Blodlesel Confermce? A. well it allbegEn whetr IdidtlemagforAlGore's wb An lrcononlef,r'Irerh, wlictrjust tlrred re iaeideout about what's going on in our world! Then I first heard about biodlesel frcm Wlllie Nelson. Nelsontoldym Qwillt€ aboEt lt? A. Yeah I sat next to him @ m airplre mdhetold mehe had all of his bus aod trucks ruming on bio-ffnls. I *id, "Weit a miaute - that'e what I waqt to do!" so my next tour at that time we went out oo all biodieel Then when I got
tlktw &lwiJg|tal@tlrestoge afr W6 dEwd d.tlv Biodiad Cafuwe inSu Frw;w homefromthetow. I sld my ctrs and baught the 2oo5 Ford di,e*l &xcucion. The tbis I guy I knew b€re, I<ent - I forget his l.stname, bds just Kera - got rlre itrvolved with the Biodieee! gmupand they asked if I'd spek at the confereae.
Q, Where you very envlrennentally awarc befm Iongp{ tnvolwdwtthAl Gor.e? A. You know I ilplD* I ws as much as the next perem. I tried to recycle, but @rtitudonpqe6
Environmental movers envisionchangeat BiodieselConference inSan Francisco W Camltnolafe,Pk*ztt
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The fourday confmre, held at tlc Mowne Center ard thsned'lsding Change Nowi offmd a mix of edu€qetworkitrg ti@al ud opporturritie dcig,fd to infm md eduBte attendG oq the latest advamer*s in tln idu€try ud $hm best practies. Edrcdionalssioro fmred m wstainability, fud production, tecbniel updats, fuel distributi@, po{icylregulatios ad marlats ard ws. to be holding 'Weteprcud rurmticnalmferere hre in Sarr Fratriru," safttJc Jobe, Nati@l Biodiff I B@rd (NBB) CEO.'Thi6 city tras long ben a leadr in biodiesl and se xa rcle model for
"I ne€d to rnove, I aeed to wake-up, I need to change, I treed to shake up, I need to speak ont, sonething'B got to break up. I've been asleep and I need to wake up now..." sang a passionate Melissa Etheridge from her award-winningtrack to Anlrworroefllcrrt fntth.It was a plvotel mome{rt, as crowds sprangto applause and a standlng ovation during the General Session ofthe 6th Anaual Natioraal Biodtesel Conference aad Expo, Tucsda5r February 3. whatomuitiesmdowitl NBB'SInlhHleAward, rwableoegy.' tourethewfld,trlwredby Baed in jeffermn Ciiy, MO, biodiel wben sheen. She NBB,isthsmtiomltrade likeduingbiodimlinher tour vehlclesm mrchihat she a*sociati@ofthe biodiffil industry. theyreport that last sld he! lFrtral e6to buy a yet's zoo milliof, gpllon prcdiesl suv, which 6hecall8th€ Bio-Bast. ductionofbiodiemlreduced grenhow gasmi si m'B i odi el i cpi mmmd I belirye it will iropire othem, the equivalentof mdirg Epeially re they getthat 98o,ooovehicls from U.S. rcads, Etheridge, whomn
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EwirfimatalreE pqe 1 .antinuedfr@ you don't har to ruke any changes to a biodimel engine to lre it,'sid Etheridge. "I think Affiie is gsiag to orc baek asan mergyladdthrough rerewable, $staimble fuels like biodi#I." Ammg the 6 wimm of tlle prestigious Biodle*l Honor Awards ws Saf, FYmcis@ Mayor Gavin NewoEL who won tb€ Initiative Award. He was reognized for hia zoo6 f:reutiw Dift ctive dcigned to ircme municipal te ofbodiml fuel, with mstofthe Clty'6 1,5oo diffil whicles roning on Bzo. Th3 Qereral Sesi6. entitled "Shades of Gre@ Ereuring a Sustainable Future for e Sustainable Fuel' &atured a live Glecmt with Nctl Dakota GovemorJohn Heveru ehair of the Gowmor's Biofuels Coalitim, who strced biodie*l's tcmsrdous ispact on the tronomy, grer job eatic, and theewircanmt. mdtllened for codiaued ollabomtirx m all froots. ActffiDart4Hffiah, uardmt biodiel supporter, offtled a touch of humr: 'I used to think biodiesl was a
kind ofagx. Now IknowitG." Among the sIEakeG w8 ICki Mclf,ar! a corpomte @municati@ expat and political comeraato! wlro di*ustrd tacti6 ir dealing with contrcvmial igwsfrcn a commuflietiqle standpoint, citing farcus indus try gimt6 who have faced challenges, such 6 Walmart and Micrcsft, and the importm of edueting onswhes, o well x the media" on imlnrtant heahh cm aud eryimmeata I topis. 'How do we take control when thm is always a diffoing viewpoint?" she asked. 'We hse to educat€ - re carft asurc tlF pubuc, the @Gumers, or the rFdia, know the story." San Fnnciw is a prime examptre of the sqreaky whel getting tbe gRN. The NBB clebrated a boo6t to SFGreas€!rcle, Sm Fancisds prognm totum wasteoilinto trlodie*l that laurched in ?oo?. Cityofficials mrcmced that the i!rcva1iw prcgm was ffit1y awarded $r.2 million to bmk grourd for brown-grcre-tobiodiesel fuel podretion, rnd to build a t@lkit that will ffi x a bluepriot for citi6 nationwide intemted in replietingtheprcgnm.
The Exhibil HalI featured over 3oo shibitors, including a Biodi,e*l Vehicle Shore highlighting new yehicbs Aom Volkwagen and Ch4rler, Jay l€no's E@Jet, md Solazyme's Jep f,ibqty diesel SUY powered try roo percent Soladi@F-biodi*1, derived diretlyfrcm algae. TtE Bey Af€ hes a tqgsbnaing legacyofbeing on tl€ eutting-edge of wirmmmtal initiatie with biodisl mrc ueptim.Jemiftr Rdke repeeded her comgany, Bia'fuel Oasis at a ssion mtitH "Celifonia Adventre Biofrrel Osis - A Decade of Expcim" is a Bertdey-batrd rcrltermed md opemted coopdatiw that reells ASTM qualitybiodiel, specializiqginbiodiesl rude fttrn wste oil pmhased from Califiomia plants -in other words, rcycbdregetableoil. 'Sra Hope Smith ard I foundedthe Bbftrel Oasis in mg," Radke stat6. ".We m€{ in t}E Berlel,cy Biodiel Cotlectire, a rcnprofit grcup that sprad the rcrd abst biodiesl and homebnred it. We dcided rc xaated to make biodiel rereible ardofferpopb a plae to buy it indeperdmt ofthe gas 'we stdi@. stard outmmen-Med
ln dEBlrdkelCn{aw Kk1 lMse disq tei6 in iw frffi awiaiw &alirywi&Md *o* poimnnpa@ lpahhaesndawdnwel@pks and mrrtinued beem we bad a la't of rcms friends who want€d to get involved. Ilp Sioff rel Oxis being womed impires otlrer ffi s to start continueAon Wz 7
Envirsmsaal|trsE ffijrudfrcnWe6 biodierl busimm c otlr busioem ia predominmtly maleEelds." Whqwillbiodiel become ou everyday mm offueling up? Withglobalmif,g reacbing danSercN lffils, the bealth ris&s oflptroilem rearty double tho* of biodie*I, and tkU.S. biodi€l ladustry seting oE 2r,ooo irbs (addine $+ biuion to the mtisnl emy in zood, nowis tbetim tomke up ud change. Inde€d, chf,nge ssms to be the keyto it all, and it needstohappm quickly. Of oure land vehiels am'ttheorly on6bming fosil fu els. ANrding to the February issue of .Bodiral Magaire,Bodagis at the mter of reveral jetlim biofirel test flights in the U.S. that have proved sucssful, and Japu Airlires fi rled a Bcing ?42with 50 perent algae md a combimtioo of plant daivativee, for a sumefid test rua around Tokyo inJmuary. Coofe@e gres1s t@k part in the oaferere's ffrst Public
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Day, f€turing Pete Bethune, who skippered tl€ biodi'e*lfueH pqrerboat Earthrae, rond tbercrld. Thereords€ttirg yoyage w ompletd in 60 deys. "We ned to restrwture@r euntrXroredrivelesgud wqtually, dodt drive at all" Radke mph*ias'Biodiesel, re a su$ainable, clanbuming, noa-tuic fuel Fon regetable oil, givs people tle ability to Eeethat eltemetives de possible, eftematives they revsknwsisted. Biodiel o,p@s up tlEir mlnd that rol change is possible." Siodiel can be made amilatrle ulryhere in the US, The NBB eai8tairs a list of egistsed fu€{narketeF at w. biodielorg, or by cqlling tle NBBrt (8oo) 84r-584.9. Covliret@Y-P*:kett, ffiiefTelamem, irr BaJ Areafrclance vittr end tdiar. Sheis ako the n-fwnder, witb hrhwbend, of Suniv ld!*ffi, enterpris|ffis. effi,uhichfMw oa cftctiw cmm sni catiw af,d i f,tega tcd g Mrkz tif, solutim fw gred mdxttoircble bwiwes. L