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?

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.

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?”

If there's one thing I've learned in this life, it's that sometimes holding it isn't an option. This week, a man flying from Honduras to Atlanta wound up in jail after using the bathroom in business class.

According to his side of the story, he had food poisoning and couldn't wait any longer. A drink cart was blocking his way to the economy-class bathroom, and though he'd already been told he wasn't allowed to use the business-class bathroom, he went for it. A flight attendant blocked his way and he touched her arm to steady himself. She claims he manhandled her.

If he did hurt her, that's wrong and obviously I would take her side on the issue. I wasn't there so I can't say. BUT I do feel a lot of pity for the poor guy. What is he supposed to do in this situation?

When Virgin America began ticket sales late last month, the site was so flooded with traffic that potential customers – frustrated by long delays – simply gave up trying. Certainly, plenty of people were trying to book at once, but the real culprit was an orchestrated cyber attack that resulted in a slow start for sales. Though the offender remains unknown, it does get you wondering. Could a rival airline have been responsible? Very unlikely, though several of the legacy carriers lobbied vigorously to block Virgin America from entering the market.

It’s no secret that American’s favorability around the world is on the decline. I was reminded of this earlier in the year when I traveled to Quebec with a slightly obnoxious stars-and-stripes luggage identifier tied to my suitcase, which mysteriously wound up getting “lost.” After speaking to the airline agent in Canada, who chuckled when I told her of the tag, I began to wonder if my missing piece of luggage had more to do with the red, white and blue than I could have anticipated.

The airline industry is abuzz over the possible return of the business traveler. Since the bursting of the dot.com bubble, the economic downturn, September 11th, SARS, and the war in Iraq, travel suppliers (including airlines, hotels, and car rental companies) have come under enormous pressure as would-be business travelers have opted to stay home or "buy down".

Buying down occurs when people traveling on business act more like the folks traveling for fun. Gone are the days of fat expense accounts with the guarantee of a first class travel experience. How we all miss the laissez-faire, who-cares-what-it-costs mentality that once existed! We're in an age of corporate scandals, and the exposure of expense account abuse, combined with the proliferation of travel "deals" have managers pushing employees to save whenever possible.