The Defense Department’s push for the use of synthetic fuels had lawmakers listening yesterday to witnesses discussing the environmental, technical and economic challenges for turning coal into liquid fuels. House Science and Technology Subcommittee on Energy and Environment Chairman Nick Lampson (D-Tex.) noted the “economic and strategic benefits of advancing coal-to-liquid technologies from both the regional and global perspectives,” but he believes there first needs to be “a comprehensive strategy to build an energy future that is sustainable.” Meanwhile, the Pentagon’s largest consumer of aviation fuel, the Air Force, is set to begin the certification process that will determine whether or not it can use syn-fuel on its C-17 airlifters. USAF already has declared it suitable for the B-52 bomber.
The top Air Force commander on on the Japanese island of Okinawa has clamped down alcohol and issued a curfew for junior enlisted Airmen and Guardians at Kadena Air Base for the next month. The order came roughly two weeks after a U.S. Marine was arrested for allegedly robbing and…