Clean Start: September 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?

Royal Dutch Shell Plc is shutting down its entire Singapore refinery, the company’s largest, to get the fire that broke out on Wednesday under control, a senior company official told reporters. [Reuters]

BP’s plan to resume full drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico after the worst U.S. oil spill was criticized by environmental groups and lawmakers. [Bloomberg]

Typhoon Nesat swept past Hong Kong on Thursday, closing markets, schools and most businesses in one of Asia’s most important financial centers. [Reuters]

Storm and crop damage estimates in Kansas for 2011 have hit a record $1 billion, according to the Kansas Department of Insurance. [Topeka Capital-Journal]

Climate change will cause damage in Canada equivalent to around 1 percent of GDP in 2050 as rising temperatures kill off forests, flood low-lying areas and cause more illnesses, an official panel said on Thursday. [Reuters]

One month later, many New Jersey residents are still coping with the aftermath of Hurricane Irene’s wrath. [Belleville Times]

Flood control efforts in the Adirondack High peaks in the wake of Hurricane Irene have caused major environmental damage to the Ausable River and other rivers and streams, a coalition of conservationists, business owners and residents warned Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday. [Times-Union]

The damage in Iowa due to the flooding of the Missouri River is “shocking” and “unreal.” [WOWT]

A Scripps team of scientists estimates the global rate of photosynthesis is about 25 percent faster than thought. [Science Daily]

Denmark’s new government is opting to excise Bjorn Lomborg‘s $1.6 million in funding for his Copenhagen Consensus Center. [DeSmogBlog]

Canada’s energy regulator said on Wednesday it is looking into a complaint that TransCanada Corp’s permit to build the Keystone XL oil pipeline within its own borders has expired, adding the prospect of more delays to a project environmentalists hope to block. [Reuters]