Today we stopped near the Wisconsin–Illinois border to visit GM’s Janesville Assembly plant, which builds the Chevy Tahoe, GMC Yukon, and Chevy Suburban. We were greeted by leadership from UAW Local 95, who were interested to learn more about the kinds of fuel-efficient technologies we are promoting and the chances of GM actually making the Chevy Volt plug-in electric concept vehicle that debuted at the North American Auto Show last week.
The SUVs being built in Janesville now are pretty efficient, for what they are. They are among the class leaders in terms of fuel-economy, so if you need to haul large or heavy loads, they really are a pretty good choice. The standard engine on 4x4 models is flex-fuel, so it can run on corn grown right in Wisconsin. In fact, GM makes the majority of flex-fuel vehicles offered in the US. Currently there are 27 flex-fuel models on the market, 25 of them are made by domestic companies, 14 are made by GM. (To learn more about GM's flex-fuel vehicles, visit its Live Green - Go Yellow website.)
The engine also uses an Active Fuel Management system that shuts half the engine’s cylinders down when driving conditions are light. If you get the Denali version of the Yukon, it comes with a new six-speed that helps make the vehicle a little more efficient.
On Monday I was able to meet up with the Green Machines Tour as they rolled through Madison, WI. In my role covering the Midwest for the 
hilltop offices of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, where we met with Secretary Rod Nilsestuen and his top policy director, Gary Radloff. The Secretary shared his strong optimism for growing Wisconsin’s bio-economy, tying together the strong agricultural and forest products industries in the state with its vibrant manufacturing sector. This means not only producing new biofuels made from cellulosic crops and wood products, but also developing new bio-based products that begin to replace conventional petroleum-based feedstocks. These efforts not only promise to add new jobs and economic opportunity within the state, but also prevent energy dollars from leaving the state. The Secretary also shared his strong commitment to encouraging local ownership in the new bioeconomy, emphasizing the additional value-added to local communities when dollars are kept, and then largely spent, within the local community. 
