Mit Romney, in his quest to become our next president, keeps referring to the “Day by day job killing regulations, bureaucrat by bureaucrat that (are) crushing our dream.” How many dreams were crushed by the dismantling of financial regulations over the past several administrations which caused financial ruin for millions who lost their jobs and even their homes not to mention their retirement funds and it isn’t over yet.

In its first session the 112TH CONGRESS has crafted a bill to amend the Clean Air Act to prohibit the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency from promulgating any regulation concerning, taking action relating to, or taking into consideration the emission of a greenhouse gas due to concerns regarding possible climate change, and for "other" purposes. That "other" is so vague as to be laughable if the rest of this proposal weren't so ridiculous. If it becomes law the country stands to set back the passage of a rational energy policy many years.

Running on Empty was submitted to the 18th Annual Writer's Digest Self Publishing Book Awards. While it didn't win an award it did receive a good rating. The reviewer thought the cover needed improvements  but overall the book got high marks. The following is excerpted from the review. No name was given for the reviewer.

On a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 meaning "poor" and 5 meaning "excellent," Running on Empty was rated 5 for structure and organization and 5 for grammar. The cover was rated 2.

Comment: This book is extremely timely, and I'm glad the author has decided to strike while the iron is hot. There's never been a bigger market for original and incisive material in the fields of energy and energy conservation. I urge the author to continue to retool and market Running on Empty to get the notice it deserves. Greene is obviously a master of the material, and I felt in capable hands all the way through. The writing is clear and punchy (though a bit technical at times for a general readership), and thanks to great organizational tools the text is easy to follow. This book has the best table of contents I've encountered among this year's entries, and that's carried through with excellent non-narrative elements including ample subheadings, accessible illustrations, and a fat glossary. Overall, a strong entry that would benefit from a little update of appearance. Best wishes!

This morning I read an Op-Ed piece in the NY Times by Seth Shostak, an astronomer with the SETI Institute, those folks who look for extra- terrestrial beings in outer space. The point of his thesis was that the kind of space exploration done on Mars, namely sending robots and cameras, made more sense than sending people to outer space due to the cost and energy it would consume. His term for sending humans into deep space to explore was “a pipe dream.”

The technology, not yet developed, and the cost of fuel required, estimated at...