It was only a matter of time, but RFK Jr. blames Republican opposition to the Kyoto Protocol for the destructiveness of Hurricane Katrina. Declaring that "the science is clear" Kennedy writes:

Now we are all learning what it’s like to reap the whirlwind of fossil fuel dependence which Barbour and his cronies have encouraged. Our destructive addiction has given us a catastrophic war in the Middle East and--now--Katrina is giving our nation a glimpse of the climate chaos we are bequeathing our children.

I round-up some more sensible writings on hurricanes and climate below. In addition, here is a summary of the actual scientific consensus on climate and hurricanes, and this Pielke piece in TNR is also worth another read.

UPDATE: I should also have noted this NYT piece.

SECOND UPDATE: Some readers are curious about the recent article in Nature purporting to show an increase in hurricane intensity linked to ocean temperatures. This study is very controversial, as this report makes clear, and has not distrubed the reigning consensus on the question (at least not yet). Indeed, one prominent hurricane researcher commented ''It's a terrible paper, one of the worst I've ever looked at." As I understand it, Nature is already reviewing one or more critical commentaries on the recent study. While a hurricane-warming link may one day be shown, it is very misleading to suggest that any such thing has been scientifically established.

THIRD UPDATE: The author of the Nature study himself, Kerry Emanuel, told the press there is no connection between global warming and Hurricane Katrina: "I don't think you can put this down to global warming."