Willie Nelson

Paul Newman has socially conscious salad dressing and salsa. Ben and Jerry have socially conscious ice cream. Now, there is a Willie Nelson branded socially conscious diesel fuel:

Truckers and anyone with a diesel engine driving through northern Louisiana can now burn cleaner, more efficient fuel thanks to Willie Nelson.

Two Shreveport Citgos on Wednesday unveiled the state's first BioWillie fuel pumps, an Earth Biofuels, Inc., premium biodiesel brand, for truck drivers and diesel engine drivers traveling along Interstate 20.


The fuel breaks down to 20 percent soybean biodiesel and 80 percent petroleum diesel.

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Louisiana becomes the seventh state to offer BioWillie. It's also for sale in California, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.

The article says that the Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry is all for it because the biodiesel component is 100 percent vegetable oil.

(It's interesting how some candidates around the South are promoting biofuels as one way to reduce dependence on foreign oil. Presumably this will appeal to agribusiness, farmers, and voters in rural communities.)

Anyway, Willie Nelson's biodiesel campaign is another example of states, communities, and even individual activists taking a leadership role on issues the government is ignoring.