U.S. Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., met with auto industry leaders earlier this month at the Detroit Auto Show to discuss South Carolina’s role in producing hydrogen powered automobiles. Graham is co-chair of the Senate Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Caucus.

“What Detroit was to the automotive industry, South Carolina can be to hydrogen,” Graham said in a press statement following the meeting.

“My message to the CEOs was that as a nation we need to become less dependent on foreign oil. To help us achieve that goal, it is my hope the next generation of automobiles will be hybrids not solely dependent on gasoline as a fuel source,” Graham said. “We need to get away from fossil fuels and start looking at using different sources of energy such as hydrogen to power out automobiles.”

U.S. Rep. Bob Inglis, R-S.C., recently re-emphasized the need to develop vehicles that run on hydrogen. Such an effort would bring jobs to South Carolina, he said.

Inglis chairs the House Science Committee’s research subcommittee and he co-chairs the Hydrogen and Fuel Caucus. The congressman said he would continue to push for a federal commitment to the hydrogen economy.

Inglis recently returned from a visit to the South Pole convinced that car and power plant emissions contribute significantly to global warming. Alternative fuels like hydrogen can cut those emissions.

Most of the delegation was on hand in October when the S.C. Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Strategy was launched in Columbia.