Noah Shachtman at Danger Room is out with some much-needed reporting on the Navy’s biofuels program, which grabbed more headlines this week after demonstrations in the Pacific of the so-called Green Fleet. He cuts through the noise of the recent political squabbling over the costs and benefits of such a fleet, whose ships and airplanes are powered by a 50-50 blend of petroleum and biofuel derived from algae and animal fats and greases.

Given recent history it’s easy to assume that Republican opposition is based mostly on partisanship. But Shachtman makes a good case that the Navy’s own scientific and political ineptitude is just as much blame for the fact that the program might not ever really get off the ground. The piece is worth your time.