One of the newest stars to advocate biodiesel is Merle Haggard. The legendary country star performed for attendees at this year’s National Biodiesel Conference after meeting with the press and the board of the National Biodiesel Board.

Before coming to the auditorium where he performed though his bus got a fill up with biodiesel. During the press conference Merle said that he was learning about the benefits of biodiesel. When asked what attracted him to the renewable fuel source his answer was “the smell.”

As someone who is in a diesel powered bus a lot he says he really doesn’t like the smell of burning diesel but heard that biodiesel smelled different and that was what got him interested. He also said that he’s happy for how the development of biodiesel is helping American farmers. We didn’t really have a good place to put our microphones for the press conference so Joe Jobe’s biodiesel straw hat was recruited.

I recorded the full press conference which you can download and listen to here. It’s moderated by NBB CEO Joe Jobe: Merle Haggard Press Conference (14 min MP3)

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