North Dakota’s Congressional delegation has engaged in conversation with the Air Force about taking advantage of the state’s “huge coal resources” for the service’s fledgling alternative jet fuel program. A joint statement from Sen. Kent Conrad (D), Sen. Byron Dorgan (D), and Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D) said that the state has “an 800-year supply of lignite that can be converted to liquid fuel” for jet aircraft. (The Air Force currently is testing coal-derived jet fuel in a B-52 bomber from Minot AFB, N.D.) The legislators also want to interest the Air Force, which is one of the biggest users of green energy, in its “powerful wind energy.”
As commander of Air Forces Central, Lt. Gen. Alexus G. Grynkewich has been in the middle of almost all U.S. military action in the Middle East, from overseeing airstrikes against Iranian proxy groups to protecting troops as America’s air defense commander for the region. Just before handing over his command to…