Well, Why Not?

How does a Connecticut goat farmer go from tending his herd to a lobbyist, new legislation creator, and biodiesel producer? One Connecticut man began by asking why not?

Christos Glynos and his partner, George Linardos, Sr. began the planning phase to build a biodiesel production facility on Mr. Glynos farm nearly four years ago. After the arduous task of locating a company willing and able to design and build such a unique project, they applied for a permit only to have Bethlehem, Connecticut, building officials turn them down.

"Anytime you want to start something new or foreign to people, road blocks pop up all over the place and people all around you say, You can't do that! I just looked at them and kept asking, "Why not?" Most of the time the people in government agencies admitted they didn't know why, so I set up round table discussions to make them tell me exactly what they needed me to do to make it happen," Glynos said.

That laundry list--changing legislation, rewritting building codes, creating tax incentives for schools who use biodiesel in their buses, and finding the funding for research and development and educational programs about alternative energy options--would chase many people off and back into a cushy job in corporate America.

But they had a dream and believed in an opportunity. "When we started thinking about BioPur, gasoline was $1.25 a gallon. People looked at me and said, Why would you bother, gas is only 1.25? I told them I didn't think it would stay that way and besides, we were too dependent on foreign oil."

So he and his partner set off to overcome every obstacle that appeared in their path and today, they're producing 400,000 gallons of locally manufactured biofuel with plans to double that amount in the next year.