What's All the Bus About?

The Road to Detroit campaign is run by 11 student organizers from around the U.S., one big, beautiful biodiesel and veggie-oil bus, and many friends and allies. Road to Detroit is a campaign of Energy Action, a student and youth clean-energy and global-warming coalition.

In the madness of classic cars and signs reading "Burn Out," "Light Her Up," and "Drive It Like You've Got a Pair," a big and beautiful solution emerged onto Woodward Ave. on Saturday. A '91 Blue Bird school bus, bedecked with a cornfield paint job and a banner reading "Cruisin' Ain't Easy at $3 per Gallon," coasted by millions of Detroit spectators, spreading the gospel of alternative energy and biofuels. It was 40 feet of dreams for the future in a sea of more than 70,000 classic cars of the past. Dream Cruise onlookers shouted with excitement and disbelief, the word of our veggie-oil propulsion traveling down Woodward Ave. faster than our bus.

At 2 miles per hour, the Road to Detroit bus cruised up and down Woodward Ave. throughout the day, finally getting a rest after an entire summer of road tripping with the pedal to the floor. It is, after all, a school bus. We kept our door open to allow interested spectators the chance to jump on and chat as we cruised. Onlookers became participants as they stood up from their lawn chairs and hopped on board, some hanging out with us for a good two hours or more. One older man, eager to help preach the good word, took his own concise approach to it. To those we drove by, he would hand a flier, saying simply, "These kids are great. Save gas money. Check out their site."

Our crew was set up at the epicenter of the Cruise in Memorial Park, tossing around hot dogs and burgers on the grill, Frisbees and soccer balls on the fields, and ideas for clean transportation to each other and anyone else who would listen. We lured passers-by in with witty signs and whiffs of our cooking to spend some time talking about oil independence, fuel efficiency, and revitalizing the big "313." (Detroit. It's the area code. We're hip to the city.) The sky periodically opened up, dumping rain on the crowds, but car buffs are cars buffs rain or shine and still came out about 1.7 million strong.

And of course, with the Dream Cruise crowd being gear-heads, we had record numbers of questions about the specifics of the dual-fuel system. Answers ran the gamut from "No, no modifications are necessary for biodiesel," to "Well you see, what we did to run straight vegetable oil was redirect excess heat from the radiator through the alternate fuel tank, dropping the viscosity of the veg to the point where it becomes thin enough to run through the engine normally."

Then came Sunday, the real nitty-gritty of our Drive the Future weekend. For entertainment, Joe Riley, a Michigan activist and musician, kicked off the day by teaching us our de facto theme song -- "Where you goin'? Michigan, man I can't even wait!" -- and belting out melodies concerning the cultural devastation of suburbanization and corporate takeovers. He's awesome.

The gathering also witnessed an environmental fashion show from the Matrix Youth Theatre Group, in which one young actor came out wearing a human scarf, his younger cast mate sprawled across his shoulders. (Yes, this skit was satiric.) We were finally graced by the incredible brilliance of the Raging Grannies, complete with their colored straw hats, instructing us in the art of environmental song derived from the likes of "Clementine" and "Give Me That Old-Time Religion."

Our group of eight bus members shared personal stories from the road: the process of gaining a feeling of ownership and responsibility for the campaign; the funny and sometimes fairly awkward experiences of collecting veggie oil; the open and inspiring communities all over the country such as Asheville, N.C., and Butte, Mont.; the overcoming of mechanical hurdles and mountains (those two being related); and the diverse people to whom we conveyed the idea of more fuel-efficient vehicles. We also got edification on some of the finer points of the auto industry from Jen Krill of Rainforest Action Network, the viewpoint of the United Auto Workers from UAW organizer Rich Feldman, and info on scientific studies from professor Walter McManus of the University of Michigan.

Our final activity was a sort of eco-justice tour of Detroit, highlighting some of the sights of hope for this downtrodden community -- places where passionate activists are doing amazing things to rebuild and organize a more sustainable Detroit for the people of the Motor City.

We wound down with a final musical set in a city garden, with locals joining people from California to Maine, Canada to Australia, living it up in the 313.