Environmental News

MPR News is your source for environment news from Minnesota and across the country.

Getting to Green: Minnesota’s energy future

Getting to Green is an MPR News series that shares stories about Minnesota’s clean energy transition, including what needs to be done to get there.

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Climate Cast

Listen to Climate Cast, the MPR News podcast all about our changing climate and its impact in Minnesota and worldwide.

Discarded batteries a growing fire risk for garbage handlers
Discarded rechargeable batteries pose a growing fire risk at garbage and recycling facilities. Minnesota officials hope to change an outdated state law to address the threat.
The green energy gridlock at the Capitol
Generating and delivering energy has evolved over the last 50 years, but slowing down climate change requires a bigger effort with government legislation.
DNR limits walleye fishing to catch-and-release on Mille Lacs through mid August
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources says it’s adjusting the open-water regulations for the popular destination lake in north-central Minnesota due in part to hungrier walleye and high catch rates.
First Black female jockey Cheryl White celebrated in Minnesota
Raymond White is traveling to Minnesota this coming weekend to share his sister’s legacy with a nonprofit equestrian program for BIPOC youth in the Twin Cities.
In northern Minnesota, researchers and foresters prepare for emerald ash borer invasion
The invasive emerald ash borer has slowly munched its way across the state since it was first discovered in St. Paul in 2009. Now it’s on the doorstep of the largest ash forest in North America.
Minnesota lawmakers look to put packaging companies on the hook for materials waste
Amid growing amounts of discarded packaging materials, lawmakers ask: Who should pay to deal with it and how to slim the pile? A bill before the Minnesota Legislature puts that onus on packaging companies.
Minnesota-grown technology helps scientists track wildlife around the globe
Much of the research conducted around the world on hundreds of species of wildlife — from large mammals including moose and wolves, to birds and fish and reptiles, even insects — relies on technology developed, in part, in Minnesota.
Climate solution or pipe dream? Carbon capture and coal power plants
An electric cooperative that serves customers in Minnesota and North Dakota wants to build one of the worlds largest carbon capture facilities. Skeptics doubt Project Tundra will work, but the Biden administration has thrown its support behind the nearly $2 billion project.