Solar power is one of the most hopeful technologies but still produces about 0.01 percent of U.S. electricity. The U.S. allocates just $159 million for solar research per year - about what we spend in Iraq every nine hours.

Isn't it time to talk not only about weather, but also about climate?

I think when hundreds of thousands of lives are on the line, you might have to set aside some principles.

It's easy to keep issuing blame to Republicans or the president

Sandy was particularly destructive because it was prevented from moving back out to sea by a "blocking pattern" associated with the jet stream. There's debate about this, but one recent study suggested that melting sea ice in the Arctic may lead to such blocking.

Rising seas create a higher baseline for future storm surges. The New York City Panel on Climate Change has projected that coastal waters may rise by two feet by 2050 and four feet by the end of the century.

Americans of faith should try as hard to save the lives of African women as the lives of unborn fetuses.