As Americans settle in this weekend to watch the final rounds of the NCAA basketball tournament, our collective consciousness has not only been riveted to the games, but also to the alarming news from around the world.

Japan's infrastructure challenges in the wake of the tragic earthquake and the ongoing crisis in the Middle East are changing the ways we need to think about energy, infrastructure and national security.

Never has there been a time in March when all the "circles and arrows" on the chalkboard weren't sets of basketball plays, but instead served as pointers to the need for America to move deliberately and quickly to find effective solutions to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

We need to change the game. What might a game changer look like? Imagine a March where the air is cleaner and our troops are watching March Madness at home with their families, not from a bunker 7,000 miles away. This should be our collective American goal and not just a dream.

Interestingly, the NCAA basketball games have also featured commercials of the highly anticipated and groundbreakingChevrolet Voltelectric vehicle with extended range capability.

The Volt is an incredible vehicle and clearly part of the solution; but if this nation is to truly adopt plug-in electric vehicles beyond the Volt, we need to move quickly and smartly to develop atransportation infrastructurethat supports the electrification of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles.

But building an electric infrastructure from supply to eventual consumer will require everyone pulling together with a collective vision for the common good and not only self interest.

Like NCAA basketball champs, it is rarely the best player who wins the tournament, but the team that executes the best. We need the policymakers from the federal to local levels, the regulators, the fuel providers, the capital investors, the vehicle manufacturers, and the integrators to step back, look at what needs to be done and do it right.

We don't have the time for re-dos and there are no time outs. It is time to put the partisan politics and future elections aside. We need to move with deliberate urgency and not panic. Now is not the time for knee-jerk reaction, but thoughtful deliberation. Who will be the winning team in designing both the technical and cultural infrastructure to make electrification happen? It is time for leadership toset a winning strategyand, yes, for the team to execute.

So as we sit back this weekend to watch the exciting NCAA tournament's Final Four, it is only fitting that the words of legendary basketball coach John Wooden ring so true for the players in the EV infrastructure: "Be quick, but don't hurry." (Wooden won 10 NCAA championships in a 12-year span, seven in a row). So put all the madness of March aside and let's start working together; so much is riding on our mutual success.

Image courtesy of Chevrolet viawww.chevrolet.com/volt/pictures.