Last week in an unprecedented move, the House narrowly approved an energy bill that would limit harmful greenhouse gases--the first time any chamber of Congress has ever approved limits of this kind. Now the energy bill faces a tough battle in the Senate and already there is vocal opposition from many different camps.

Without access to Capitol Hill, I settled for the next best thing: taking straw polls at happy hour. I asked one simple question: If the climate bill passes, would you be more likely to offset your travels?

Summer starts on Sunday, June 21, and I for one can't wait.  Michelle Doucette, our friend and fellow blogger, shared her picks for the world's best places to celebrate the summer solstice with USA Today.

The sky was nearly cloudless, the air was cool, and the early-summer evening sunshine streamed over Iceland’s Blue Lagoon, a giant, natural geothermal pool just 45 minutes from Reykjavik. At a toasty but comfortable 102 degrees, the sometimes-florescent, milky-blue waters contain minerals from the nearby lava rock that are said to have healing powers.

There is no chlorine here. The waters are completely natural, which is why all visitors must go through a rigorous cleansing regimen before and after using the baths. After you pay, you’ll be given a locker key and sent to the communal showers, where you must soap up completely from head to toe before you are allowed access to the baths. There is even a shower attendant on hand to make sure everyone is completely lathered. It’s not for the shy, but the natives are so nonchalant about this routine that it’s hard to get embarrassed.

One guidebook said it was an exercise in self-torture, but my friends and I were not dissuaded. We had eight days to circumnavigate a country, and we were going to take advantage of long hours of daylight to suck the marrow out of every minute. Starting in Reykjavik, we were going to circle the country of Iceland, from west to south to east to north, along the fabled Ring Road, and during a tumultuous time in the country’s history.

Once among the richest countries in the world, Iceland’s economy has completely collapsed in recent years. While it has wreaked havoc on the populace, for us it meant a favorable exchange rate and a chance to see a country that was formerly cost prohibitive.

Whee…it’s Earth Day, a Hallmark holiday for green living.  Just like Valentines Day is the one day a year we’re all expected to be lovey-dovey and buy heart shaped chocolates and flowers for our sweethearts, Earth Day is the day we clean up our local parks, turn off lights, forego the hairdryer and the car in lieu of air drying and walking…all of which is just great, but we only have to do it today, right?!

So Uncle Sam gifted you a huge refund and you spent it on a ticket to Coachella? NICE. After six straight months of grim economic news you’ve more than earned a chance to blow off a little steam. But don’t space out yet. There will be plenty of time for that once My Bloody Valentine starts their set.

Here are some tips to make your Coachella experience rock.

Glowing is for Glowsticks:

It’s cherry blossom time in the D.C. area, and the famous Cherry Blossom Festival by the Tidal Basin is getting into full swing. Each year, this area bursts forth with cotton-candy pink blossoms on the trees that circle the monuments along the water, and people come from all corners of the globe to witness this rite of spring.

I get absolutely giddy with joy around spring time.  As an avid whale watcher, the spring season means that humpback and gray whales make their annual 12,000-mile journey from cold Alaska waters to breed in the warm waters of the Pacific Ocean further south.

Starting now through early April, state parks, recreation departments, and beaches throughout the West Coast have set up a string of whale-watching sites for visitors hoping to catch a glimpse of a humpback or gray whale diving, jumping, or gliding over the top of the water.  Volunteers are usually on hand to guide visitors, too.  In Oregon, the parks and recreation department has volunteers stationed at 28 different locations to help curious seekers find good whale-watching spots.

This week's question comes from Randy in San Francisco, home of the only moving National Historic Landmark in the U.S.:

Please join us in welcoming renowned travel author David Yeadon to The Window Seat. He is the author of several travel books, including his latest At the Edge of Ireland. His guest blog reveals his top travel tips for Ireland's Beara Peninsula.

If you’ve ever been charmed by twinkle-eyed Irish raconteurs, dreamed of hikes across wild mountains and moors, or imagined yourself at a Guinness-primed ceili in an authentic Irish village pub, then you would love the Beara Peninsula, a remote mountainous finger of land in the southwest corner of Ireland that juts out thirty miles into the Atlantic.