Clean Start: August 29, 2011

Welcome to Clean Start, ThinkProgress Green’s morning round-up of the latest in climate and clean energy. Here is what we’re reading. What are you?

– Residents along the Eastern seaboard faced a massive clean-up effort Monday after Hurricane Irene pounded tens of millions of Americans with wind, rain and floods. The huge size and slow journey of the storm along 1,100 miles of U.S. coastline left an extraordinarily broad impact. At least 24 deaths were attributed to Irene as devastation ranged from North Carolina to Vermont. Toppled trees, fallen debris and flooding caused hundreds of roads to be closed over the weekend. Up and down the coast, some 2.4 million people evacuated. [WSJ]

– Global concern about climate change has risen only very slightly over the past two years, as consumers have focused on more immediate economic worries, according to an opinion poll published on Sunday. [Reuters]

– NASA and NOAA satellites have been tracking Hurricane Irene as it barrels up the coast. But one type of NOAA satellite, which orbits the poles and helps predict severe weather like tornadoes and blizzards, may soon be out of commission—with no scheduled replacement—leaving NOAA with a blind eye. [NPR]

– The State Department said Friday that a proposed pipeline slated to carry Canadian oil sands to Gulf Coast refineries poses little environmental risk if managed properly, a decision that moves the controversial project one step closer to final approval. [E2Wire]

– 1,069: The number of rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. this week. The figure reflects a huge surge in U.S. oil drilling, up nearly 60% in the past year and the highest total since at least 1987, when oil services company Baker Hughes Inc. began keeping track. [WSJ]

– Federal officials investigating reports of small amounts of oil popping up on the Gulf of Mexico near where a BP well blew out last year say they’ve found no oil leaking from seafloor wells. [AP]

– Brazil, South Africa, India and China called Friday on industrialized nations to step up their commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at a key UN climate summit later this year. [AFP]