Perhaps the American automakers have taken a lesson from their Japanese counterparts.

Just a few days after Fox News host Neil Cavuto made headlines in Detroit newspapers for his optimism regarding the future of the American automakers, several top executives from the Big Three took an important step in righting the ship yesterday.

The chief executives from Ford, General Motors and Daimler Chrysler met with President Bush in the Oval Office, discussing some of the issues that are most pressing for the automakers.

This meeting was a rare display of the foresight that the American manufacturers so often lack - the same foresight gave Toyota and other foreign automakers the competitive advantage that they have eagerly taken advantage of in recent years.

It should be undisputed that gas prices and climate change have necessitated improved fuel efficiency and the use of alternative fuels. As the realization that changes in efficiency were necessary spread across the nation, the Japanese automakers were able to seize the moment. They became the first to perfect hybrid technologies and to produce trendy vehicles like the Toyota Prius, which consumers are still lining up to buy.

This was just one example of how foresight has led to Toyota's recent success. Having seen the need for changing manufacturing processes and technologies, Toyota and its Asian counterparts were able to streamline their production cycles, allowing them to develop these new technologies quicker than the Big Three, one of many reasons that the Motor City has been drowning.

Considering this, one of the more compelling topics addressed by the president and his guests was energy policy and how the industry might be affected by changes in the coming years. The fears of potentially debilitating legislation have been magnified by last week's elections, as many congressional Democrats, backed by environmental groups like the Sierra Club, have recently supported an increase in corporate average fuel economy for SUVs and pickup trucks.

Simply raising CAFE standards would not achieve its goal efficiently. Using conventional technologies to achieve a more efficient output is an expensive proposition, making the discourse between the executives of the industry and the nation, which focused on promoting alternative fuels, particularly intriguing.

The proposition for alternative legislation centered around an agreement from last summer, where the automakers agreed to double the production of flexible fuel vehicles by the year 2010. These vehicles, which can run on biofuels like ethanol, have become increasingly popular among consumers. But these vehicles remain tough to fuel because ethanol pumps have yet to pervade traditional filling stations.

Having shown their willingness to develop these vehicles and knowing that the sale of flexible fuel alternatives could help them regain some of their lost market share, the American executives encouraged the president to support policies that would aid the industry as it tries to pull its head back above the water.

The result of a bill that was signed into law simply raising CAFE standards would be that the automakers would be forced to pay fines for not meeting the given level. Rather than having the desired effect of creating a disincentive for not meeting the standard, the new standard would likely just serve as an obstacle on the way to new technologies.

Instead, Washington should take advantage of the Big Three's excitement regarding the development of flexible and alternative fuel technologies. The policies supported by the industry executives were surprisingly aggressive, and this readiness to submit to lofty goals displays a confidence that these industry leaders have been lacking in recent years. According to The Detroit News, General Motors chief Rick Wagoner even went as far as to say that the proper incentives could drive the manufacturers to make biofuel vehicles half of their total productiono by 2010.

Finally, the American automakers have found something they believe they can compete in, and with the right congressional encouragement, the Americans have a chance to corner a market much like the Japanese have with hybrids.

Instead of supporting disincentives that won't have the desired effect, Congress could have an impact on the revival of the industry by creating incentives and subsidies for the development of these new technologies.

Everyone understands that the industry and these companies are in trouble. Everyone knows that the gas prices are a problem for consumers. And everyone knows that the environment is in trouble.

So now that we have a solution that would encourage new growth in the auto sector, new growth of biofuel agriculture in the heartland and a chance to save or create thousands of jobs, why would we throw it away for the immediate gratification of interest groups?