Tom Holm of EcoTrek recently drove a Ford Super Duty pickup truck 6,000 miles across country on cellulosic ethanol provided by POET for his “Best of America Tour.” He wrote this post for his blog detailing his arrival at the Atlantic Ocean.
Before even checking into my hotel in Manhattan, I drove straight to Brooklyn to officially complete my cross-country journey fueled by POET cellulosic ethanol. While I got close to my intended goal of touching my tires in the Atlantic Ocean at Coney Island, I was turned away just yards from the sea.
Just like in Santa Monica, California, one government agency failed to communicate with another, so I was literally stopped in my tracks. Fortunately, it pays to stay nimble. Thus, on both coasts I found alternate locations to complete my watery ritual. On the West Coast, I touched my tires in the Pacific at Half Moon Bay, CA. On the East Coast, my tires were dipped in the Atlantic at Lemon Creek Park, on Staten Island, NY. Both locations were unexpected, yet turned out to be immensely beautiful and memorable.
I see this experience as an analogy to our cause of advancing the use of renewable fuels and alternative energy. Obstacles are constantly being placed in our way by sluggish bureaucrats, disconnected government agencies and indecisive individuals. So, to progress our cause, staying nimble is imperative. If our target is blocked, we sometimes have to change our course, but never our objective. And, if we’re lucky, the outcome may be even better than we’ve been hoping for.
You can follow Tom and his cellulosic cross-country adventures over at his EcoTrek blog.