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?

Forget stripped-down service from the airlines; how about a stripped-down staff instead?

Air New Zealand recruited actual employees to bare all for a new ad campaign promoting the airline as the carrier “whose fares have nothing to hide.” Wearing only body paint, the staff filmed both a TV commercial and an in-flight safety video (and you thought Delta’s safety video was hot!). Take a look.

This week's question comes from Neal in Greensboro, NC, home of the oldest standing Tuscan-style villa in America:

If you follow the news, then you know that last week a pilot died mid-flight. Luckily, the plane landed without incident. The pilot was 60 years old, and apparently died of natural causes, which brings up a topic that we’ve touched on here before on The Window Seat: how old is too old to fly?

Back in December of 2007, then-president Bush approved fast-tracked legislation to raise the pilot age from 60 to 65. The thinking was that if a pilot could pass the same rigorous, standardized medical tests as the younger set, then there’s no reason to bar them from the yoke of the plane. Many people, myself included, applauded this decision, seeing it as an end to age discrimination.

Today I'm stopping by The View from the Bay to do a round-up of the best summer travel gadgets. Savvy Window Seat readers already know about a few of the gizmos I'm going to talk about, but here are my top five (in no particular order):

Not all gadgets were created equal. Some are frivolous like the Mind Relaxer, some are awesome but expensive like the Amazon Kindle, and some are just right like X-ray-friendly laptop bags. If I had to recommend one travel gadget to frequent flyers, this is it.

We're starting to hear that phrase again: capacity cuts. We began hearing it last year as airlines got hit hard with high fuel costs, weakening demand and a tough economy. Delta and American announced today that they will further reduce the number of seats sold on flights this fall, and other major airlines are considering it, a reminder that this recession is still alive and airlines are still feeling the crunch. These cuts are in addition to previous announcements made in March by both Delta and United.

I’ve always believed noise-canceling headphones were designed by and made for one particular group of travelers: dudes. I mean, sure, I like to block out annoying travelers as much as the next person, but I couldn’t get behind the $300 price tag. How good could they really be? $275 better than my current headphones?

But as far as I can tell, men don’t think this way. From the moment my pair of QuietComfort® 3 Acoustic Noise Cancelling® headphones arrived, the men in my office were on high alert. Just this morning I looked up and three of them were hovering outside my office, pointing at the box. “Did you get a pair of noise-canceling headphones?” “Can we try them on?” “Did they change your life?”

Hitting the road when you have a baby changes everything. Travel just ain't what it used to be.  Even me, a travel expert, was daunted by the idea of traveling with my daughter by plane for the first time.  As with everything there is a learning curve and you get better with experience. I'll save you some of the trouble and share some of my learninngs from our very first family vacation.

Ahh . . . New Jersey. State of gardens, 'da Shore,' and now, 28 flights per week on Jet America. The new low-cost airline  promises nine seats on each flight will cost just $9. Now, despite the claim on their web site that this is "not a gimmick," it feels a bit gimmick-y. But for $9, who cares?

According to the Associated Press (via Yahoo), service begins July 13 with  flights at Toledo, Ohio; South Bend, Ind.; Melbourne, Fla.; Newark, N.J.; Minneapolis and Lansing, Mich.