Oil on Troubled Waters

Last month the supersonic Concorde — grounded for 15 months after a disaster of its own — returned to commercial flight. Rock star Sting, a passenger on that first flight, called it a symbol of the return to normal life. Well, maybe for him.

But there's nothing normal about the nearly 26,000 liters of fuel an hour — twice that of a jumbo jet — that the Concorde consumes. The Concorde's comeback is notable not only because British Airways has decided the plane is safe to fly again, but also because it can afford to fuel it...