Originally published February 15 2006
Magazine selects five most important environmental stories for 2005
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
The Arctic Refuge, climate change policies and Hurricane Katrina top the list of 2005's five most important environmental stories, as chosen by Grist Magazine.
The discussion about Hurricane Katrina and global warming largely missed the point.
Of course global warming didn't cause Katrina -- any given weather event is the nexus of thousands of causes, proximate and distal.
The exact degree of attribution scientifically supported is a question for eco-wonks and science geeks.
The point about Katrina that will linger in the public's mind is: Oh, that's what climate can do.
Despite taking fire from an astonishing array of sources -- Tony Blair, Democrats, city mayors, state attorneys general, celebrity spokesfolk, science advocacy groups, a majority of the public, and even Republicans in Congress -- the Bush administration succeeded in delaying significant efforts to address climate change for another year.
Federal intransigence aside, 2005 saw a flurry of state and local initiatives on climate change.
In late December, after two years of wrangling, seven northeastern states signed the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, an agreement to reduce emissions from power plants.
The California Public Utilities Commission this fall resolved to boost funding for solar energy to $3.2 billion over the next 11 years, creating the world's second largest solar program.
Seattle mayor Greg Nickels corralled roughly 300 fellow U.S. mayors into pledging to meet or exceed Kyoto targets.
They tried and failed to get it into the budget reconciliation bill.
A variety of factors and trends, many temporary, collided to produce spiking gas prices this year.
SUV sales fell and hybrids continued their remarkable success story.
It became something close to conventional wisdom that all cars will eventually be hybrids.
These are things you know about if you're paying attention, but "top stories" are things you're aware of even if you're not paying attention -- as, for better or worse, most people aren't.
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