I Heart AA

My employer, American Apparel, is amazing. Not only are they giving me the time off for my surgery, but they also do stuff like this:

American Apparel is making biodiesel fuel available to employees. Biodiesel is a vegetable-based diesel substitute that will run in any diesel vehicle without alteration or conversion of the car or truck. It is a clean-air fuel that is lower in carcinogens and particulates than petroleum fuel, and because it is vegetable based, biodiesel is carbon neutral, meaning it does not contribute to global warming. It supports our farmers while reducing our dependence on foreign energy sources.

I'm seriously considering buying a diesel because of this. Say, a nice W124-bodied Mercedes, anywhere between '87 and '95. It's not just the appeal of less pollution (making penance for all my years of driving guzzlers) but it's also the esthetics of the thing, of filling your tank at work with an organic fuel that doesn't fuck with the environment, feed political corruption, and fund Islamic extremism. That's thinking locally.

Come on, even George Bush feels compelled to make lip service to problem of cheap oil imports. If even a third of America's big employers were this responsible, our addiction to oil would be severely pared down. It's good for the country, it's good for the environment, it just makes sense. Alternatives to fossil fuel need to move past the "early adopter" stage, and this is how that happens.