On March 29, the Pegasus oil pipeline, owned by ExxonMobil, ruptured in an upscale suburb of Little Rock, Ark. While the 5,000 to 7,000 barrel oil spill is dwarfed by the Deepwater Horizon spill from just a few years ago, it nonetheless raises serious questions about the safety of the large network of pipelines that crisscross the United States.

Yesterday I attended a protest at President Obama’s St. Louis campaign fundraiser, urging him to reject the proposed Keystone XL pipeline for Canadian tar sands oil. In August, 1,253 brave people were arrested in acts of civil disobedience outside the White House in order to send the same message: reject the Keystone XL. I was not able to make it to D.C.

Bon Appétit has entered into a partnership with Kelley Green Biofuel, a local company founded by Kristopher Kelley, a 2008 Washington University alum, in order to convert the vegetable oil waste into biodiesel fuel.