“When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the bands which have connected them through an ineffective national energy policy, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, but all sources of access to energy are not,” reads the Declaration of American Energy Independence.

The Declaration was signed last week during several Energy Patriots events held in Fort McHenry in Baltimore, MD; York, PA; and Philadelphia, PA. The event was sponsored by AmeriGeen, a Manheim-based biofuel supplier.

Several Energy Patriots were on hand including Don Lingle, an instructor with the Lancaster County Career and Technology Center who rode his biobike to the event in York. Not only has he built his own custom motorcycle to use biodiesel, but last year he helped his students build a biobike using a four-cylinder Volkswagen turbo engine that ran on 100 percent biodiesel produced from the cafeteria’s used cooking oil.

Lingle said in an interview with the York Daily Record, “It smells like the fair – the York Fair. When people drive behind you, they want to know where that smell is coming from.”

Also participating in the event was Tom Washburn, the president of Aero Energy, who three years ago began selling only energy products produced in America. These products include BioHeat, a home heating product that is blended with biodiesel and gaining traction in the Northeastern region of the country.

Washburn noted that it won’t be long until more cars and motorcycles begin to use biodiesel and he believes torque and power will be even better. “People are just afraid right now. They don’t want it to mess up their motorcycle,” he concluded.