"That's one of the most exciting things about Michigan's future. We need to, we must capitalize on our alternative-energy vehicles that we can produce right here"
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The line is both a promise and a marching order. It casts Michigans future as something to be built, not awaited, and ties that future directly to the states manufacturing DNA. The emphasis on alternative-energy vehicles connects climate responsibility, energy security, and economic revitalization in a single project: if the cars of tomorrow are cleaner and smarter, Michigan should not merely buy them; it should design, assemble, and export them. The insistence on producing them “right here” is a rejection of the offshoring trend that hollowed out Midwestern factories, and an affirmation that the skills, supply chains, and ingenuity already embedded in the region can be repurposed for a low-carbon economy.
Granholm delivered this message while governing through the painful restructuring of the auto industry in the late 2000s. Factories were closing, unemployment was high, and the old model of relying on internal combustion and cheap gasoline was unraveling. She championed a pivot: state incentives for battery plants, partnerships with universities, workforce training like No Worker Left Behind, and alignment with federal Recovery Act funds to seed domestic production of advanced batteries and electric drivetrains. Companies such as A123 Systems, LG Chem, and Johnson Controls-Saft announced facilities in Michigan, and GM launched the Chevy Volt with substantial Michigan content. The strategy linked green technology to the kind of middle-class jobs the state knew how to support.
The larger idea endures. Local production of EVs and their batteries keeps more of the value chain at home, reduces exposure to oil price shocks, and cuts emissions. It also demands industrial policy, long-term capital, and a social compact that includes communities and workers in the benefits. As federal policy now favors domestic clean energy manufacturing, Granholm, as Energy Secretary, carries forward the same thesis: seize the transition, or be swept by it. For Michigan, the excitement is not abstract; it is the tangible possibility that the next era of mobility is stamped with its name.
Granholm delivered this message while governing through the painful restructuring of the auto industry in the late 2000s. Factories were closing, unemployment was high, and the old model of relying on internal combustion and cheap gasoline was unraveling. She championed a pivot: state incentives for battery plants, partnerships with universities, workforce training like No Worker Left Behind, and alignment with federal Recovery Act funds to seed domestic production of advanced batteries and electric drivetrains. Companies such as A123 Systems, LG Chem, and Johnson Controls-Saft announced facilities in Michigan, and GM launched the Chevy Volt with substantial Michigan content. The strategy linked green technology to the kind of middle-class jobs the state knew how to support.
The larger idea endures. Local production of EVs and their batteries keeps more of the value chain at home, reduces exposure to oil price shocks, and cuts emissions. It also demands industrial policy, long-term capital, and a social compact that includes communities and workers in the benefits. As federal policy now favors domestic clean energy manufacturing, Granholm, as Energy Secretary, carries forward the same thesis: seize the transition, or be swept by it. For Michigan, the excitement is not abstract; it is the tangible possibility that the next era of mobility is stamped with its name.
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| Topic | Technology |
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