DETROIT, Mich. (WILX) - On the second day of industry and media preview days at the Detroit Auto Show, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is scheduled to speak Thursday morning at Huntington Place.

Whitmer opened the show's second media day with a speech criticizing the Trump administration's tariff policies.

"The directive could make us a national leader in this space," Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said at the Detroit Auto Show.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer expressed concern about changes that have faced the auto industry as she contemplated her own return behind the driver's wheel.

In her keynote remarks at the Detroit Auto Show on Thursday, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called for increased collaboration between the U.S. and Canada in auto manufacturing and trade more broadly, while criticizing the impact of tariffs put in place by President Donald Trump as having “taken a terrible toll.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed an executive directive on Thursday to study the potential of geologic hydrogen extraction as a clean energy source for Michigan.

Michigan is in one of at least two areas in the U.S. with favorable geology to generate significant amounts of hydrogen, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It is in the Midcontinent Rift, which also includes parts of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas. The other area is along the East Coast.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer boasts that she has the "most creative" social media among governors. Why did building an online presence become a priority?