Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Many know this classic 1939 film pitted an everyman Jimmy Stewart against the rich and powerful under the U.S Capitol Dome. And though more than 70 years have passed, even the writers of this academy-award work of fiction couldn't have imagined that Washington would be even more corpulent and confusing in 2010. And one of the best examples of this weighty indecision can be found in what passes, or doesn't pass, for the nation's energy policy. Solar, Wind and Shale are just a few power options that we've added to the mix over the years while natural gas, electric and hydrogen hint at what may be driving our cars and trucks down the road: yet today no one knows for sure what's best and where we're going.

So the question remains: what is our policy and who is driving it? And where better to try to get a handle on what's going on than "inside the beltway" as they say, than by paying a visit to our nation's capitol itself. This week Autoline presents its own version of "Mr. McElroy Goes to Washington" from the floor of the Washington Convention Center. There John is joined by two members of what are known as NGOs or Non-governmental organizations along with the publisher of a cutting-edge automotive periodical to discuss everything from off-shore drilling to the EPA.