• October 19, 2006 Stakeholders Meeting, Bozeman, MT
• October 20-22 Northern Rockies Bioneers, Bozeman, MT
• February 4-7, 2007 National Biodiesel Conference, San Antonio, TX
• February 19-21 National Ethanol Conference, Tucson, AZ
• June 10-12 Ethanol Producers and Consumers (EPAC) Conference, Big Sky, MT

The workshop included informational sessions on various fuels, plug-in hybrids under development that could essentially travel 500 miles on a gallon of gasoline (a flex fuel hybrid designed to run up to 60 miles on an overnight plug-in to a standard household outlet), natural gas vehicles, a concentrated focus on biodiesel implementation, storage, quality and more. Participants got first hand experience riding the “Yellow Bus” thanks to Jim Evanoff. Along with providing excellent tech support for presenters, Howard Haines of Montana DEQ also provided fascinating history of Yellowstone and Grand Teton as we traveled through. Mayor Fuhriman of Idaho Falls, Julie Klein from Grand Teton Lodge Company and Chris Finlay of Grand Teton Park provided local welcome to workshop participants and shared some of their work with implementing greener practices in their organizations.

Dennis Smith, acting director of Clean Cities, arranged for a facilitated session to gain input regarding the future of the Clean Cities program. There seemed to be strong agreement that the association with DOE, training and basic financial support (enough to leverage the solicitation of additional funds) for coalition operations were highly valued and essential for the program to continue. Coordinator Teri Ulrich conducted a workshop on grant writing that was informative and enlightening.

Finally, coordinators bid a fond farewell to Ernie Oakes, former Central Region Team Manager who has been reassigned to the “National Green Energy Parks Transportation Program” within DOE. Neil Kirschner with NETL, and based in Pittsburgh, was introduced and welcomed as the new Clean Cities Project Manager.

Workshop presentations may be accessed under Coordinator's Toolbox on the Clean Cities homepage www.eere.energy.gov/cleancities

Your coalition representatives met with both the Livingston School District and the Park County Commissioners in Livingston, offering to assist them in initiating a biodiesel test program with district and county vehicles. In addition they helped facilitate a discussion between Livingston and Park County representatives regarding mass transit in the area. They also met with Dan Alexander at Story Distributing and Dave Fowler, Gallatin County Fleet Manager in Bozeman. Story is the area’s top distributor of biodiesel with B100 available at the plant, by delivery and through a retail B20/B5 pump at Belgrade.

Nationally there was NO (zero) Department of Energy funding budgeted for coalition operations in 2006 nor is any anticipated in the FY 2007 budget. Several local governments have been essential to the coalition including Idaho Falls, Jackson, Teton County, West Yellowstone and Yellowstone National Park; Xanterra has been a major corporate sponsor. A broader base is needed, though, to provide stability and accomplish the coalition’s goals. If you are not already a financial team member, please consider joining us at the Leadership ($1000 or more), Business ($100 or more) or Individual ($30) level. Checks to: Yellowstone-Teton Clean Energy Coalition. Mail to P.O. Box 7048, Bozeman, MT 59771. We are compiling our list of sponsors for our website and will be pleased to add you to the list. Many thanks to those already providing funding for the coalition.