OAK RIDGE, Tenn. (AP) -- Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander is calling for a national commitment to energy solutions.

Alexander was in Oak Ridge -- where the Manhattan Project created the atomic bomb -- to call for the same national determination to now focus on clean energy independence.

Speaking at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Alexander said the effort is needed to deal with rising gasoline prices, electricity prices, clean air, climate change and national security.

The former Tennessee governor outlined seven "grand challenges" for energy-related research and technical innovation over the next five years.

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