For more than two decades, Washington has been trapped in gridlock over energy legislation and fuel-economy standards for automobiles. Suddenly, with this summer's energy debate in Congress, it might seem that a turning point is at hand. But the truth is that the solution to breaking our addiction to oil and addressing climate change cannot easily be legislated — it will take radical breakthroughs — and true breakthroughs come from unpredictable places, and atypical players.

People love their cars. They are vital links to our jobs, our community, our leisure activities. Yet for everything we love about our cars, they are tethered to the most severe global crisis of our time: oil dependence and climate change.

Earlier this summer, the Senate passed energy legislation that includes increased fuel efficiency requirements for cars and trucks, and the House is expected to vote shortly on its own package of energy-related bills. These bills are serious efforts, the products of new political dynamics driven by mounting concerns over global warming, the security of foreign oil supplies and higher energy prices.

Even the best legislation, however, will not get us where we need to go. By its very nature, the art of legislating accepts the current paradigm, and promotes small incremental improvements. It's difficult to ask large existing players, locked within their ways of thinking and their own corporate policies and abilities, to stop doing what they've done for decades. True breakthroughs are radical departures from the norm. They come from non-traditional players, typically small groups, typically from outside the industry. As Margret Mead is famous for saying, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."

A recent newspaper headline said: "You Want Innovation? Offer a Prize." And that is exactly what is needed. A prize focused on the creation of a new generation of super-efficient vehicles that meet the public's practical desires.

Prizes have a long and very successful history at bringing about breakthroughs. In 1919, an obscure French-born American who had come to admire many flyers during World War I had a moment of postwar jubilation. He offered a prize of $25,000 to the first aviator to fly across the Atlantic "from Paris to New York or New York to Paris, all other details in your care." In 1927, an unknown airmail pilot named Charles Lindbergh flew from New York to Paris and claimed the prize. His flight is widely credited with changing the face of aviation and creating today's $300 billion industry.

Inspired by the prize that spurred Lindbergh, the X Prize Foundation created the $10 million Ansari X Prize that helped launch the private spaceflight industry. Now, the foundation believes an automotive prize can bring about clean, production-capable vehicles that exceed 100 miles per gallon in fuel economy or its energy equivalent. The rules for this prize have been written, and a benefactor or sponsor is now being sought. Once launched, real vehicles will hit the road in 2009 or 2010 in a dramatic stage race, traveling through multiple cities to demonstrate their efficiency and durability under real-world conditions.

Thus far, the response to the idea of an Automotive X Prize has been overwhelmingly positive. Federal and state agencies, from the Departments of Energy and Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency to the California Air Resources Board, have offered their assistance. Several groups like National Resources Defense Council and the Consumer Federation of America are supporting the effort, along with important public officials like Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana and Democratic Sen. Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico.

In addition, more than 30 teams have signed letters of intent to compete. These are serious teams — an international mix that includes a major university, start-ups and small but established manufacturers — that are committed to producing durable, safe and production-capable vehicles, not impracticable science projects. They have their eye on promising technologies that exist today, including diesel, gasoline, biofuels, electric and various types of hybrids.

Our goal is to offer a platform to major automotive and start-up companies, all of whom envision a future of many vehicle choices, perhaps new companies, an invigorated auto industry, and a more educated global public. Like us, they are committed to producing vehicles in the near term, not a decade or two down the road.

Today, we need a breakthrough in addition to congressional action. We need to create a framework for private enterprise to do what it does best: engage its entrepreneurial side to provide a new generation of super-efficient vehicles. When that happens, an exciting turning point will truly be at hand. The Automotive X Prize offers us that opportunity.

Peter H. Diamandis is chairman and CEO of the X Prize Foundation, a California-based nonprofit organization that creates and sponsors independent and international prize competitions to drive innovators to solve challenges.