WASHINGTON -- President George W. Bush touted the benefits of "flexible fuel" vehicles running on ethanol and biodiesel on Monday, meeting with automakers to boost support for his energy plans.

Automakers pressed the case that ethanol and biodiesel blends can help reduce the country's reliance on foreign oil.

Local 4 business editor Rod Meloni said the president is giving Detroit automakers some much-needed attention. Detroit automakers have visited the Oval Office twice in the last six months.

The president urged Congress to "move expeditiously" on legislation the administration recently proposed to require the use of 35 billion gallons of alternative fuels by 2017 and seek higher fuel economy standards for automobiles.

Bush met with General Motors Corp. chairman and chief executive Rick Wagoner, Ford Motor Co. chief executive Alan Mulally and DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group chief executive Tom LaSorda. They discussed support for flex-fuel vehicles, attempts to develop ethanol from alternative sources like switchgrass and wood chips and the administration's proposal to reduce gas consumption by 20 percent in 10 years.

After the meeting, Bush inspected some of the flex-fuel cars.

GM had the Impala E85 flex-fuel vehicle on display, while Chrysler brought the bio-diesel Jeep Grand Cherokee. They brought these vehicles because they are already on the road, Meloni said, adding that there are 5 million flex-fuel vehicles currently on the road.

On display by Ford was a vehicle from the future -- a Ford Edge HySeries hydrogen fuel cell plug-in vehicle. Meloni said the vehicle is probably 10 years away from hitting the market, but Ford wanted the president to see what they had in terms of technology.

During one of the demonstrations, Bush stuck a yellow plug into a jack positioned near the front door of the Ford Edge. Mulally said a mix of alternative vehicles -- hybrids, hydrogen fuel cells and plug-ins -- "give us some great options to satisfy our need for flexibility as well as being good stewards of the environment."

The discussions came amid rising gasoline prices. The latest Lundberg Survey found the nationwide average for gasoline has risen 6 cents per gallon in the past two weeks to $2.61.

Wagoner said they spent "very little time" discussing gas mileage standards beyond the president's support for reforming how standards are applied for passenger cars.

"The American consumer will now be able to use gasoline or ethanol depending on price and convenience -- that's a major technological breakthrough for the country," Bush said. "If you want to reduce gasoline usage, like I believe we need to do so, for national security reasons as well as environmental concerns. The consumer has got to be in a position to make a rational choice."

Meloni said the question now becomes: Where can you get this fuel?

There are 1,162 stations nationwide that carry the E85 fuel, Meloni said. The executives are asking the president to help with publicity and help getting the major oil companies to move forward and put more of these pumps around.

Meloni said the hope is the more places people can fuel up, the more people will use these vehicles and automatically reduce the need for foreign oil.