Joe Soucheray: I'm afraid we're at the mercy of nature, not the other way around - TwinCities.com

The climate is always changing. There was a storm in 1938 that devastated Long Island, known as either the Long Island Express or the Yankee Clipper. New York was hit by a crippling storm in 1821. They have been hit by Edna and Carol and Irene.

I am not willing to believe that man is bigger than nature. I can't make a drop of rain or a snowflake, and I certainly can't produce a gust of wind -- figuratively when I write, maybe, but not literally. What I am willing to believe, because the climate is always changing, is that maybe we are alive in a period where we see the intensity of a storm and thus are tempted to believe, because we are so full of our own self-esteem, that we somehow have something to do with it.

What does Obama's victory mean for action on global warming? | Damian Carrington | Environment | guardian.co.uk

A US carbon tax has been talked about as an alternative to the cap-and-trade bill, but there seems next to no prospect of this overcoming Republican opposition.

Obama's re-election means he can end his climate silence and continue his bits-and-pieces approach to tackling American emissions. But he probably needs to bring more than that to the international negotiating table if the US is to galvanise the slow struggle towards a global deal. To me, the odds on him doing that seem low. Perhaps, chillingly, it will take more searing heatwaves and superstorms to strike to prompt Obama into serious action.