Heidi Alexander: “Senator Corker and I had the privilege of being in Chattanooga, Tennessee on Monday for the opening of Volkswagen's…”

“Senator Corker and I had the privilege of being in Chattanooga, Tennessee on Monday for the opening of Volkswagen's North American plant. It was a great day for our country. Here is a major global manufacturer making in the United States what it plans to sell in the United States. We salute Volkswagen. I salute Chattanooga and Tennessee. One-third of the manufacturing jobs in our State are auto jobs. There was a new Volkswagen Passat that gets 43 miles a gallon. That is good news for Americans who are paying $4 or more a gallon for gasoline. But as I was there at that celebration for these new fuel-efficient cars, and earlier this week at a hearing of the Energy Committee, I was thinking: What if I were to say to you or to anyone I might see, while you are worrying about $4 gasoline: Did you know that we have enough unused fuel sitting over here, that is not oil, to power 40 percent of our light cars and trucks at a lower cost? That is right. We have enough unused power every night to power 40 percent of our light cars and trucks. Every night. We can do that by simply plugging them into the wall. I am talking about electric cars and light trucks that almost every major manufacturer is now beginning to make, and we do not have to build one new powerplant to do it. Last week Senator Merkley and I appeared before the Energy Committee to talk about our legislation, the Promoting Electric Vehicles Act.…”