Fueling the Green revolution: 12 Dartmouth Students on a Mission to Save the Planet
On board a legendary and rather conspicuous Big Green Bus, a crew of 12 Dartmouth students has initiated a 13,000 mile journey across the United States to “spark a dialogue about sustainable living, the viability of alternative energy sources, and tangible solutions to local and global energy issues.” From Louisiana to California and Minnesota, the summer tour will is expected to reach more than 35 States to target a wide range of institutions and people ranging from high school and corporate leaders to American consumers. They hope to inspire people 
to reconsider their relationship to the planet and become more environmentally-responsible.
Teaching by example, their vehicle is itself a former school bus converted to run on waste vegetable oil harvested from eating places, including many fast food restaurants. In addition, it is also equipped with solar panels on the roof to collect the necessary power to supply laptops and other electronic equipment; and a small portable wind turbine is used to harvest additional power whenever the bus is parked and conditions are right.
This year (the fourth consecutive year for The Big Green Bus), the road trip will include a political advocacy component and will aim at seeking the support for climate protection action and clean energy transformation at the federal, state and local levels. As a result, participants have prepared presentational tools, such as a smartboard, iclickers for instant public polling, and wireless computers, open and ready to send pre-written letters to Members of Congress and other representatives. At each of the bus’s stops, the students will engage with mayors and other city planners about what cities and towns can do—and are doing—to go green.
On June 10th, some members of the Bus crew met with Climate Institute President John Topping and Environment and Energy Study Institute (EESI) Executive Director, Carole Werner. Together, they discussed the situation following the Senate’s failure to bring to a vote the long-awaited Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act bill to fight global warming with a "cap-and-trade" system to slash greenhouse gas emissions. There was agreement that action at the state and local level was even more crucial now to set the stage for national action in 2009.
Figure 1: Jack Werner, Director of the District of Columbia Office of Energy and long-time Climate Institute Senior Advisor, and Nasir Khattak, Director of Global Environmental Programs for the Climate Institute, in front of the Big Green Bus
The same day, the Dartmouth Club of Washington hosted a reception at the Stewart Mott House, 122 Maryland Avenue, NE, on Capitol Hill (see pictures).
The dedication of the Dartmouth crew is not only remarkable but also emblematic of the recent comments of Nobel Peace Prize Co- Recipient Al Gore. During the presentation of a recent slideshow, he called for “another hero generation (…) with a sense of generational mission.” The Big Green Bus is a vivid example of what a group of informed and enthusiastic individuals armed with practical things individuals can do to lessen their carbon footprint can do to stimulate action.
Figure 2: Laura Lovelace, Dartmouth 1992 and Truck School 2000; in the middle John Topping, Dartmouth 1964, President of the Climate Institute; and Esther Perman, Dartmouth 2007, who arranged Washington events for the Bus crew, in front of The Big Green Bus. Behind them is an emblem of Dartmouth's Thayer School of Engineering whose students did the original design of the Bus.
For more information about The Big Green Bus
http://www.thebiggreenbus.org/
