Dan Lashof, Program Director, Climate & Clean Air, Washington, D.C.

Another monster storm is bearing down on the Eastern United States, prompting yet another mad scramble to rearrange travel plans, prep for power outages and dig in for potential damage.

When are we going to do more to address the causes of climate change, rather than react to its effects?

We don’t know yet what Hurricane Sandy will leave in its wake as it tears its way toward the Northeast United States -  although meteorologists are already warning that this “Frankenstorm” could be another billion-dollar disaster – or as one put it, “an economic and human disaster on multiple levels,” if it makes landfall near Long Island or Northern New Jersey.

But here’s what we do know:

This mega-storm is just one more sign of the new normal that will continue as long as we keep avoiding addressing climate change.

Just like the unprecedented droughts, flooding and heat we all experienced this year, storms like Hurricane Sandy is what global warming looks like.

This is the new normal.

In a nutshell, global warming heats up our oceans and loads hurricanes and other storms with extra energy, making them ...

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