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.

Tackling the 'big brown spot': Keeping fields in living cover could be path to reducing nitrate
Commercial fertilizer and manure applied to crop farms is a major source of nitrate in Minnesota’s water. A new report finds planting crops that keep the soil covered year-round benefits both the environment and farmers.
How the changing climate will affect polar bears
MPR News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard just got back from leading a learning vacation with 12 other Minnesotans to Churchill, Manitoba — the “polar bear capital of the world.” Sundgaard, along with Doug Clark from the University of Saskatchewan, conducted lectures on the changing climate of the region and its impact on polar bears.
Smith Foundry faces scrutiny after inspection finds violations, activists pressure state to step in
An iron foundry in south Minneapolis is facing scrutiny after a federal inspection in May found violations of both federal and state pollution regulations. Now, local activists and neighbors are pressuring state and federal regulators to step in.
This is how far behind the world is on controlling planet-warming pollution
Global emissions of greenhouse gases are rising, according to an annual accounting by the United Nations. It warns development of new oil, gas and coal is incompatible with meeting climate targets.
The U.S. has a controversial plan to store carbon dioxide under the nation's forests
A proposed rule change from the US Forest Service would allow storage of carbon dioxide pollution under national forests. The plan comes as communities resist such projects in their areas
Agency combats poverty one energy audit at a time
With winter fast approaching, a nonprofit called MAHUBE-OTWA is working to winterize homes throughout northwest and central Minnesota. The organization was formed in the mid-1960s as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson's “War on Poverty” and is still meeting the challenge.
Scientists turn invasive carp into traitors to slow their Great Lakes push
State and federal wildlife agencies have developed a new weapon to slow down invasive carp across the Great Lakes region: traitor fish. Over the last five years, agencies have worked to capture invasive carp in Lake Erie and the Illinois and Mississippi rivers and implant them with transmitters.