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Top environmental story of 2005
What was the year's top environmental story? You can vote at the Sierra Club's website.
Think they missed something? Let us know in comments.
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California’s water woes in 2005
Like Old Man River, another year has rolled by in California's water world and, as usual, things have gotten worse. The year started with recurring news reports of the continuing decline of several critical fish species in the Bay-Delta Estuary, which is also the source of drinking water for 23 million Californians.
Then in the wake of Hurricane Katrina last summer came sobering news that the fragile Delta levee system near Sacramento and Stockton could collapse in a major earthquake or a horrendous storm event, causing massive destruction and loss of life. Undeterred, developers proposed another 100,000 homes in the Delta region -- below the levees!
Last month the state's Little Hoover Commission released a report (PDF) criticizing "CALFED," the consortium of state and federal agencies created in 1994 to "solve" the problems of the Delta. More than a decade and $3 billion later, the Little Hoover Commission report notes CALFED has little to claim in the way of improvements for the Delta or the state's water problems.
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Sunny days ahead
Today is the winter solstice. Which means -- for folks in the northern hemisphere, at least -- that each day from here on out will be sunnier than the last.
And as we head into the holiday season, think about maybe sharing a little of that sun: Some folks have set up a fund for solar systems for New Orlean's 9th Ward. Don't be a grinch, check it out.
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EIA reports that–surprise, surprise–US carbon emissions are rising
This might come as some surprise, but the Bush administration's all-voluntary, do-nothing approach to reducing greenhouse-gas emissions is not working. The New York Times reports on the Energy Information Administration's release of 2004 figures: Emissions are higher than they have ever been before.
And in unrelated news, 2005 is shaping up to be the hottest year on record.
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The Arctic Refuge isn’t everything
Environmentalists won a key victory today, blocking a truly risible attempt by Sen. Ted Stevens to cram Arctic Refuge drilling through on the back of the defense bill. It's a good thing.
Why am I not more celebratory? Well, because I'm not just an environmentalist. My muted feelings are well explained in this post by Jacob S. Hacker and Paul Pierson:
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Victory on Arctic Refuge drilling
The Senate has blocked the latest attempt to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Update [2005-12-21 12:16:45 by David Roberts]: MoveOn has set up a page where you can send Washington's own Sen. Maria Cantwell a message of thanks for her leadership on this issue. Go here.
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New particulate regulations
Stop me if you've heard this one before:
The Bush administration on Tuesday proposed new air quality regulations intended to reduce modestly sooty pollutants that health officials blame for thousands of premature deaths and illnesses each year.
But in proposing the first change since 1997 in federal standards on the pollutants, called particulate matter, the Environmental Protection Agency largely ignored recommendations for tighter controls from its own scientists and from an independent panel of outside experts. -
Japan Gets PAYD
Here's a little something I'll be keeping an eye on: Japanese insurance company Aioi has started to offer pay-by-the-mile car insurance. (See page 2 of this pdf.) This is an especially nifty development, since it means that Aioi will be working out some kinks in the technology (the company will verify mileage with a device installed in policyholders' cars), which could help PAYD make the leap across the Pacific.
