Two first tier state lawmakers acquire LEAFs for their own use
In Tennessee U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander took delivery of his new LEAF a couple of days ago. Saying all of the right things to generate those all important “sound bites” Senator Alexander nonetheless has shown a propensity for energy conservation and minimizing petroleum use. Co-sponsoring Senate Bill S3495 (Promoting Electric Vehicles Act of 2010) the Senator has proven that he can “walk the walk” by converting his Toyota Prius to a plug-in hybrid to gain additional electric range. The Senator discusses reducing our reliance on oil with this quote from a Brookings Institution study saying “we could do this without building one new power plant, if we plugged our cars in at night when the country has huge amounts of unused electricity.” Clearly the Brookings Institution gets is, as does the Senator. If only the masses would take the time to actually examine the issue, rather than repeat what they read on some blog (and yes… we do realize that we fall easily into the category of “some blog”).
But not only does the distinguished Senator from Tennessee have an interest, but Hawaii State Representative Mark Takai will receive his LEAF tonight. His will be the second LEAF delivered in the Hawaiian islands. Mr. Takai has also taken the step of installing solar panels so that the LEAF will not be run on fossil fuels of any sort. Representative Takai, who serves in the Army National Guard, served a four month tour of duty in Kuwait in 2009.
One bit of information that we are pleased to see in these two LEAF deliveries is that the Senator is a Republican while the State Representative is a Democrat. It goes to show that at least in some cases, political views can take a back seat to important personal beliefs.