I thought I was going green. Instead, I was committing a crime against humanity.

Recently our family car was totaled in a wreck (no one was hurt). So I figured: Here's a chance to green up. To leave gas guzzling behind. To go off the oil grid. I'm talking biodiesel. Instead of running your car on noxious petroleum, you cruise about town powered by veggie oil.

It's all the eco-rage. The bumper stickers for biodiesel say "No war necessary." Pollute less, help cool the planet and marshal the renewable power of nature.

Or so the argument went. As recently as a few months ago.

But when we asked around about biodiesel, it didn't take long before the scolding started.

Biodiesel pollutes more than oil, said one e-mailer on a community site where my wife asked for advice. Another questioned our morality, saying it's wrong to use food for fuel when people are starving.

Then I heard there's a Seattle environmentalist who protests at local biodiesel stations. Above the green-painted pumps, he hangs this banner: BIOFUELS = CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY.

Now, I don't expect it to be easy being green. But this is ridiculous. What was hailed as our leading green alternative to petroleum is now an affront to humanity?