Hysterical predictions of $4- to $5-a-gallon gasoline after Hurricane Katrina haven't come true. In some areas of the country, the price has retreated toward $2. Home heating costs could be lower than forecast.

But the only chance for good long-term news here is if the price spikes spur the government, automakers and consumers to finally get serious about conservation, technological innovation and alternative energy sources. Compared with the rest of the world, Americans still consume a disproportionate share of a diminishing and politically charged natural resource.

According to a report issued this month by the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, Americans ages 18 to 29 had the largest increase in turnout of any age group in the presidential election last year. About 20.1 million young people between 18 and 29 — just less than half of eligible voters that age — turned out to vote in 2004, an increase of more than 4 million from the 2000 election.

"We were encouraged to see this surge of engagement in the democratic process," said Peter Levine, the center's deputy director.

It was certainly necessary. For the most part, 2005 has been an awful year for the image of pro athletes and teams.

Baseball was tarnished by superstars' illegal steroid use. Basketball was marred by an ugly brawl that spilled over into the stands in Detroit a year ago this week. Hockey lost an entire season due to a strike. And football seems increasingly consumed by a Me Generation of athletes totally divorced from the concept of team. (Exhibit A: end-zone celebration dances by players whose teams are trailing by three touchdowns.)

But Major League Baseball has just instituted tougher new penalties against steroid use. Hockey is back. Basketball issued long suspensions for the Detroit brawlers, and a new season has started in relative peace.

The poster child of football's Me Generation, Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Terrell Owens, was suspended with pay for publicly bad-mouthing his team. He was irked that he had to play under a multimillion-dollar contract he'd signed.

Such childish and defamatory actions would have gotten him fired at most American companies. (Among other things, Owens questioned the courage of one of the real team players left in the NFL, quarterback Donovan McNabb, who had played for weeks with a painful hernia.)

Not that long ago, the NFL was mostly defined by unselfish team players like the late Walter Payton, a gifted but humble running back for the Chicago Bears. Maybe Owens' punishment will allow the NFL to refocus on team players like McNabb or New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.

After a 12-year-old Palestinian boy, Ahmed Ismail Khatib, was shot dead by Israeli soldiers who had mistaken his play gun for a real one, the boy's parents donated their son's organs. They were transplanted into five Israeli children and a 58-year-old Israeli woman. Said Ahmed's father, Ismail: "I feel that my son has entered the heart of every Israeli."