BioTour Interview

EJ writer Theresa Gasinski sits down with co-directors Alan Palm and Ethan Burke of BioTour.

Story by Theresa Gasinski

Co-directors Ethan and Alan travel across the country in a renewable energy-powered bus to promote sustainability. Photo courtesy of BioTour

BioTour is a renewable energy-powered bus tour that promotes sustainability in the U.S. Co-directors Alan Palm and Ethan Burke began the tour in April 2007, traveling across the country to address climate change, environmental degradation and peak oil. They spread their message in a 1989 International Blue Bird school bus powered by waste vegetable oil, biodiesel and solar panels. .

THERESA: How did BioTour begin?

ALAN: The project began as an adventure. After college and traveling abroad we wanted to explore the U.S., so we traveled from Massachusetts to Nevada in the summer of 2006, fueling the bus with grease from Chinese restaurants along the way. It was positive responses from people across the country, from truck drivers to bankers, along with our own recognition of the ecological and socio-economic realities we face, that inspired us.

THERESA: What are the most interesting or unusual people you have encountered?

ETHAN: During our first tour, we stayed at a friend’s place in Madison, Wis. Right next door was an old jazz musician, so we sat down and started talking to him. He spoke about his involvement with the Black Panthers, marching with Martin Luther King’s movement, and how he once played on stage with Miles Davis. We just talked to him about all the struggles he went through and how they connect to the problems today.

THERESA: How do you decide where to go?

ETHAN: There’s no exact formula; it’s not really scientific. We want to go to every state someday. We’ll pick a broad area that we want to visit, and we’ll start contacting schools and personal links. A few places book us, and these bookings are the guide for where we’ll be. We try not to make too strong of plans because it’s the unexpected things that tend to be the most amazing;

THERESA: Do you aim to influence any particular age group?

ETHAN: We’re trying to make our tour wide-reaching. Because we just graduated from college, we feel it’s easiest to identify with college kids. In theory, universities are places where people are supposed to challenge ideas. We do a lot of college visits, but also elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools. It’s important to talk to young people who are just beginning to figure out how the world works.

THERESA: Were there a lot of technical difficulties in the beginning stages?

ALAN: Yes. When we bought the bus, neither Ethan nor I had experience working on engines, and had never even changed motor oil before. We knew next to nothing about running a vehicle on vegetable oil. On our first road trip across the country, we ended up breaking down, sleeping in a junkyard, hitch hiking and fixing the bus in the driveway of an oil rig. After that we quickly learned how not to run a bus on vegetable oil and learned how the diesel engine works.

THERESA: Is the bus expensive to drive?

ALAN: No, we have driven across the country paying only pennies per gallon of fuel. The vegetable oil is free, so the conversion has more than paid for itself in what we've saved on fuel. 

THERESA: You’ve made the switch to biofuel, but is there enough for everybody?

ETHAN: Statistics are difficult to come by, but can we switch? I would definitely say no. There’s nowhere near the amount of vegetable oil as petroleum. But the problem isn’t the lack of vegetable oil. It’s our overuse of petroleum. That’s why we’re promoting a sustainability ideology, not biofuel. I think it’s fine if people use biofuels responsibility, but right now there’s this unsustainable ideology out there. We’re promoting working within the limits of nature; working with the environment as opposed to against it. 

THERESA: What are BioTour’s future goals?

ALAN: Our overarching goal is to catalyze a transition to a more sustainable society. We have met such incredible support for renewable energy and sustainability across the country, but there is a stark divide between public opinion and government policy. Therefore, we are now focusing on encouraging democratic action and participation to create the society that Americans want.

Theresa Gasinski is a freshman at MSU double-majoring in comparative cultures and politics, as well as social relations and policy. This is her first appearance in EJ Magazine Online. Contact Theresa at gasinsk1@msu.edu

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