Today I had the pleasure of visiting the hard working men and women of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory in the Office of Transportation and Air Quality (OTAQ).  Our alternative energy roundtables are in full swing, and I found it only fitting to visit the group of people who are responsible for helping our major automakers meet federal requirements regulating air pollution from motor vehicles, engines, and their fuels.  No conversation about alternative energy and sustainable energy sources is complete without including the automotive sector to talk about what government and the auto manufacturers are doing to increase fuel economies and reduce vehicle emissions.

With a mission to advance clean fuels and technology and promote more livable communities, the OTAQ is leading the way to ensure vehicles on the road today are producing less emissions and have higher fuel economies than those even five years ago.  All of their hard work and talents should remind us of Michigan's vast knowledge-base to develop and bring innovative and achievable auto and energy technology to consumers.  The electric battery and the hydrogen fuel cell can be born, made, and rolled off the assembly line right here in Michigan.

Michigan is well-positioned to create jobs by helping to solve the problems of energy dependence and climate change, but in order to meet those ambitious national goals, we will need more than new federal rules from Washington; we'll need a full partnership with sustained investment from the federal government. 

It was great to sit down and talk to Margo Oge about her bold goals for the laboratory and Office of Transportation and Air Quality, as well as all the great people who came in for this roundtable.  It was unfortunate that I had to rush back to Lansing to deal with the Legislature and the service tax repeal.