Thanks for the update, Steve.

One random thought: You've all no doubt noticed that oil prices are way down. In northern New Jersey where I live, we actually have a station selling gas for $1.39 a gallon. Who would have thought that was possible only 6 months ago? One of the reasons given in the press is that there is less consumption owing to the bad economy. So oddly, this has had a devastating effect on the price at the pump. I'm not a big fan of subsidized energy sources either, but this is a factor I hadn't previously considered. Cutting consumption of oil is driving the prices down (supposedly). If the government is hell-bent on giving us a stimulus, investing in things like windmills would create jobs and leave behind permanant improvements to infrastructure while moving us toward energy independence.

Incidentally, let's not forget the biggest "alternate" source that is known to work well: nuclear. I know it's controversial (sadly) but it's a known entity. During the presidential debates, one of the questions was "do we need a 'Manhattan project' for alternate energy?" My answer - absolutely not! We have something that works very well right now in nuclear. If we spend the kind of money people are suggesting for other alternatives on building nuclear and increasing the efficiency of spent fuel recycling we would have all the energy we need for the next century. And the extra electricity from nuclear could be used to make hydrogen for our cars.

Oh, well, 'nuff said. Have a great new year, everyone!