Lowe calls for hybrid car tax breaks

Rob Lowe has called on the US government to hand out tax credits to people who make their cars more environmentally friendly.

Lowe, who plays a member of Congress on TV show Brothers & Sisters, testified to lawmakers in Washington on Thursday to ask them to encourage drivers to add a plug-in feature to hybrid cars and trucks.

Plug-in hybrids have electric and gasoline powered motors, with a battery back that can be charged at home.

Lowe later appeared at a demonstration in the city where he showed off a Toyota Prius that had been converted.

He said: "The first money I ever made and was able to invest, I invested in an alternative energy company going back 25 years. Like a lot of Americans, I've been watching as the climate changes and as we are in a war on terror where our oil addiction helps fund people that want to kill us. It's gotten my attention.

"I have been driving this car around and I have to tell you, it did what my mother couldn't do. It did what my driving instructor couldn't do - it's made me a better driver."