Capitol Alert: Can Danny Glover save NUMMI from closing its doors?

Actor Danny Glover has played a hero on the big screen, but can he save the soon-to-be shuttered NUMMI plant from its impending closure?

State Treasurer Bill Lockyer hopes so.

Glover is one of ten Californians Lockyer has tapped to serve on a new labor-funded commission tasked with studying the potential fiscal impact of the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. Plant's March 31 closure.

The creation of the commission comes as community leaders, organized labor and local and state officials press Toyota to keep the Fremont assembly plant open. The plant employs nearly 5,000 workers, though the Treasurer's Office estimated in a release that the closure could result in 50,000 lost jobs from companies across the state that supply parts for the plant.

The panel will submit to Lockyer a report outlining options for keeping the plant open and potentially travel to Japan to deliver its findings to Toyota executives. The commission's work and travel expenses will be funded by labor groups, Lockyer spokesman Tom Dresslar said.

"The primary goal is to convince Toyota of the wisdom of reversing course," Dresslar said. "(Lockyer) lives in the community, and he thinks that it's important that we do everything we can to keep that plant open and protect those jobs."

The commission, which also includes local officials and representatives from business, labor and environmental groups, will meet tomorrow to establish a timeline for completing its work. The public hearing will be held at 10 a.m. at the California Public Utilities Commission's San Francisco office.

See the full commission roster after the jump.

Lockyer tapped the following members for the NUMMI commission: