WASHINGTON, D.C. - High school student Colin Coon wasn't intending on making an environmental statement when he left his hometown of Sarasota for a tour of the country in a car he converted to run on vegetable oil. 

The Associated Press reports Coon saying, "I'm more of an engineering hippie than an actual hippie."

But the New Gate School student has become an example of how we need to be thinking about energy and finding alternative sources, according to U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida.

On Wednesday at 2 p.m., Coon arrived in the nation's capital to meet with Nelson and talk about how everyday Americans can take advantage of new energy technologies. 

Coon is expected to drive his vegetable oil-fueled station wagon up to the Hart Senate Office Building, where Nelson will look under the hood and kick the tires.

"We're going to see how a teenager was able to convert his car to run on the oil donated from restaurants,"  said Nelson, a strong proponent of developing alternative fuels to get the U.S. off oil.

Coon bought the used Mercedes in Kansas.  Besides Washington, D.C., he's planning to show off his new ride in Atlanta, Nashville, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Dallas and other cities.