It is good in the sense that reducing our dependence on oil imports in good for the country. Hopefully the Air Force comes up with a solution that can be extended to civilian air flight, helping everybody. That they are even considering the environmental costs up front is a good sign.

The bad side is that this is part of a subtle shift on the part of military planners towards permanent field deployment of US forces. The Cold War US military was designed assuming an European war that would be high intensity but short (months or even weeks). The US empire however will require long term and possibly permanent active field deployment of forces.

Jay