Moving Toward Sustainability Working to reduce our ecological footprint Clif Bar Sustainability Newsletter Winter 2006 Issue #4
I clearly remember the afternoon that I first filled up my pickup
truck with B100 fuel at our local Berkeley Biofuel Oasis Co-op. I knew, on one hand, that it was just an easy switch from one fuel to another. On the other hand, I could sense that this simple step was somehow life-changing. I was right. There is something powerful in moving from the intellectual to the personal, and that’s what took place at the pump that day. (Not really a pump—filling up at the biodiesel co-op is more like hanging out in your neighbor’s garage.)
sticker on our RV inspired an endless stream of questions. We saw America at its quirkiest and its kindest, and we loved being part of it. Biodiesel captures our imagination in a particularly profound way. I grew up in the 70’s when oil prices and gas shortages were part of daily conversation. We grew up aware of the dangers of that dependency, but we grew older and even more dependent. Fuel economy for new cars peaked in 1988 and according to the EPA, the average car mileage in 2004 was only 20.8 miles per gallon. Henry Ford’s Model T, introduced in 1908, got 25 miles per gallon. As a symbol of our lack of progress, we now drive Hummers. There’s something about disengaging from our national reliance on oil that speaks to us deeply about new possibilities. The other day I was listening to Tower of Power’s1974 album Urban Renewal. The words of the song “Only So Much Oil in the Ground” still resonate. “There’s only so much oil in the ground Sooner or later there won’t be much around Tell that to your children when you’re driving downtown That there’s only so much oil in the ground.”
Gary, Clayton, Lydia, Kit and their dog Sparky relax after climbing to 12,000 feet in Colorado. Can you believe that Sparky?
Driving our truck on biodiesel led to the idea of taking a family vacation in a biodiesel-powered RV—a 5000 mile adventure that took us through nine states, British Columbia and Alberta. In our quest for B100, we discovered places and people we never would have otherwise—Jay of Jay’s Garage in Portland, Oregon, who couldn’t stop talking because he was so excited about our trip, and Bob who sold homemade biodiesel out of his trailer in a grocery store parking lot in Bellingham, Washington. The biodiesel
How did a funk band from Oakland have this figured out thirtytwo years ago, and we as a nation still don’t get it? In this 2006 newsletter, you’ll read some good news about biodiesel, organics, wind farms and creative outreach. I believe, however, that the most vital part of our progress lies not in the concrete steps we’re taking toward more sustainable resource use, but in the new relationships, understanding, and personal changes we’re all gaining along the way.
There’s only so much oil in the ground Sooner or later there won’t be much around Tell that to your children while you driving downtown That there’s only so much oil in the ground Can’t cut loose without that juice Can’t cut loose without that juice... There’s only so much oil in the ground Sooner or later there won’t be none around Alternate sources of power must be found ‘Cause there’s only so much oil in the ground There’s no excuse for this abuse No excuse for this abuse... - Tower of Power 1974
The Clif Bar biodiesel bus stops in South Dakota, in front of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe wind turbine, a clean energy project funded in part by Clif Bar’s purchase of carbon offsets from NativeEnergy.