Clean Start: November 1, 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?

GLOBAL BOILING

Devastation from a rare and deadly October snowstorm lingered in the Northeast where 1.6 million homes were still without power on Monday, schools were closed and downed trees and powerlines snarled traffic, with 13 deaths, most on slippery roads. [Reuters]

The storm that spooked the Northeast with a blanket of wet, branch-snapping snow forced cities and town to discourage or postpone Halloween festivities — decisions that did not sit well with legions of ghosts, goblins and princesses who were already homebound due to widespread school cancelations. [AP]

The snowstorm that struck the US north-east over the weekend has caused unprecedented damage to woodlands and parks, with 1,500 trees lost in New York City alone. [Guardian]

Another water-logged weekend — the third in an October that water managers said will go down as one of the five wettest on record — swamped much of South Florida, leaving roads and yards looking like lakes and flooding parking lots, garages and some homes in low-lying areas. [Miami Herald]

Allstate Corp. said its third-quarter net income fell 55 percent after climate disasters cost the insurer $1.08 billion. [AP]

The worst one-year drought in Texas history has produced a statewide hay shortage that has more than doubled the price of large round and small square bales, forcing many ranchers to sell or even abandon all of their cattle and horses because they cannot afford to feed them. [New York Times]

KEYSTONE XL

Nebraska may try to draw a line in the sand when it convenes a special session of the state legislature on Tuesday to debate whether to seek changes to the planned $7 billion Keystone XL tar sands pipeline traversing the state. [Reuters]

Canada is toughening its tone on the Keystone XL pipeline, warning the Obama administration that rejection of TransCanada Corp’s $7 billion project could prompt Ottawa to concentrate on selling its oil-sands-derived crude to Asian customers instead. [Reuters]

Facing challenges about Canada’s environmental record from the foreign business community, Canadian diplomats were urged to continue touting tar sands in messages crafted by the Alberta government to “temper negative coverage” of the oil and gas industry, says a newly released internal government report. [Financial Post]

DIRTY OIL

A fossil-backed thinktank with ties to the Koch brothers is suing climate scientist Michael Mann, charging he manipulated data to receive government grants. [Institute for Southern Studies]