The recent approval of the US Senate to increase the budget for hydrogen and fuel cells to € 190 mln for 2010, up from earlier  earlier announcements of the Obama administration that government spending on hydrogen for transport would be reduced, demonstrates the power that active and constructive lobbying can have on decision makers.  We salute our collaegues in the US with this success that should inspire us all to be more ambitious in contacting key decison makers in Brussels and at national and local level. The EHA this summer has embarked on a intensive verification effort of new EU Parliament members, presidents of crucial committees and other key members with close links to the sectors that are important for hydrogen and fuel cells development. We have prepared a database that inlcudes contact info of all key MEP’sand listed them also per country for easy reference for our industry and national associtaion members. In this way the EHA is mobilizing support that includes references to concrete examples of how the use of hydrogen and fuel cells are indispensable components of  clean energy and transport systems. The recent openings of Shell’s cluster of hydrogen refeulling stations in the New York area being one of those (see under Hydrogen Hits the Roads ).