Recently, the financial question on everybody’s mind has changed from whether to bail out Wall Street to what should be done about the auto industry. The greatest source of worry is General Motors, which will almost certainly go bankrupt in the near future without some type of government assistance. Some say bankruptcy would, in the long run, be beneficial, as it would allow General Motors and the other companies to restructure and renegotiate their various debts and responsibilities, especially to their workers. Others have said bankruptcy is not a tenable solution, as the particulars of auto manufacturing make it such that the companies would be unable to continue operating after entering bankruptcy.

Whether or not they go bankrupt, the automakers and Congress must recognize that the companies are environmentally bankrupt and have been for some time. For a number of years, Detroit has been willfully ignorant regarding the reality of anthropogenic climate change and the significant role automobile emissions play in causing it.

Thanks to lobbyists’ efforts, fuel efficiency standards remained essentially static from the 1970s to 2007. The industry also stymied various efforts by California to enact regulations on emissions and gas mileage. As documented in the film “Who Killed the Electric Car?” GM shut down production of the EV1, an electric car that would have put GM at the forefront of the next generation of automobile technology. Instead of spending money on innovation, the auto companies used lobbyists to secure their gas guzzlers, blocking the changes that would have protected the environment from emissions and auto workers from obsolescence.

Granted, there are other factors that have contributed to the current situation. Some people truly need SUVs to do their jobs. The rising cost of health care has made workers’ benefit packages more burdensome than expected. Beyond this, we, the American consumers, were complicit in the problem to a certain degree. Many of us bought a Suburban when a station wagon would have sufficed. We all failed to demand that Congress create fuel economy standards that would have been better for the environment and our pocketbooks, too.

Finally, as gas prices have risen over the past year, Americans have recognized SUVs for what they are – costly and harmful to the environment – and have begun to make their opinion heard. For the first time in 17 years, a pickup truck is not the best-selling automobile in America. That honor now belongs to the Honda Civic. The next three best-selling vehicles are sedans as well. The problem is that none of those four best-selling cars are made by Detroit auto manufacturers. While our automakers stalled, Honda and Toyota raced ahead. The Toyota Prius, a hybrid that gets over 40 miles per gallon, has risen to the ninth best-selling car. Americans have begun to make the switch.

Unfortunately, the Big Three (GM, Ford and Chrysler) aren’t ready to make it with them. As I’ve said, their management policy has been a little short on foresight.

Their current troubles, however, should be viewed as an opportunity as well as a challenge. Rahm Emanuel, who will serve as White House chief of staff in the Obama administration, recently said, “Never let a crisis go to waste.” In the current crisis, this maxim is particularly applicable to the car companies. Whether or not they enter bankruptcy or are bailed out, these companies must use the flexibility they gain to completely reorient their business model toward manufacturing cars that are significantly more fuel efficient than the fleets they currently produce. They should aim to raise their average fuel efficiency to 35 miles per gallon by 2015. To become competitive once again and counter climate change, they’ll have to accomplish at least that.

In the end, the best option may be another type of hybrid: both bankruptcy and bailout. The Big Three could enter bankruptcy and Congress could supply them with the credit they need to continue to buy parts and manufacture cars. This would allow the advantages of bankruptcy – renegotiating obligations, changing management and, most importantly, innovating with the goal of producing “green cars” – while avoiding the potentially catastrophic effects of an orthodox bankruptcy.

Somerset Perry is a senior in the College. He can be reached at perrythehoya.com. Biodegradable appears every other Friday.

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