Colby says:

...don't ever ask me whether I'm loyal to Alberta or to Canada if you think you might not like the answer.

I'd vote for you, man, but I'm no citizen of Alberta. Yet.

On the subject of which: is there anyone other than me who thinks Alberta should be spending their petrodollars on defense? Maintenance of economic disparity comes out of the barrel of a gun, or something like that.

The US has released oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. That's a pretty big deal, but it's things like this which it's for.

The damage estimates are large, 10B+, despite this not being a worst-case scenario for New Orleans. One interesting question is who will end up paying for them in the end. The US taxpayers in the form of the federal government and the large reinsurers such as Warren Buffett will be first hit. However, I can easily imagine plaintiffs connecting this hurricane to global warming and suing large GHG emitters and carbon extractors. Although the evidence connecting anthopogenic climate change and extreme weather is not 100% certain, it could well be enough to convince the same jury that convicted Merck on Vioxx, or Dow on silicone breast implants. This will be an interesting area of law for the next few decades, and the difficulties of the science and the amount of money on both sides should ensure lucrative careers for all the lawyers.

I remember hearing about a comment from some (generally skeptical) Arkansas physics professor, along the lines of "global warming just means you have 100 years to move to higher ground". Maybe this is how it begins.