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.

Southeast Minnesota struggles for common ground on nitrate pollution as health worries rise
In a petition filed in April, environmental groups asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to use its emergency powers under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act to intervene in what they call an “imminent and substantial endangerment to human health.”
How extreme weather in the U.S. may have affected the pumpkins you picked this year for Halloween
Some pumpkin farmers in the West, particularly wholesalers in places like Colorado and New Mexico, are feeling the pinching effects of drought. Farmers have had to rely on dwindling water for irrigation while battling wacky weather to get their crops planted on time.
University of Minnesota to collaborate with tribal groups in first-of-its-kind CWD plan
The University of Minnesota will collaborate with tribal communities from across the state to slow the spread of chronic wasting disease. The initiative will be one of the first tribal CWD management plans in the U.S.  
Fargo-Moorhead flood control project marks milestone
Federal, state and local officials are marking a milestone in construction of the $3.2 billion Fargo-Moorhead flood diversion project. A structure that will help divert Red River flood water around Fargo-Moorhead has been completed.
Two sea otter pups, found orphaned along Alaska coast, find home at Minnesota Zoo
The female pups, named Denali and Nuka, were found just days apart in September and initially brought to the Alaska SeaLife Center. Minnesota Zoo staff spent several weeks helping care for the pups in Alaska, before they were brought back to Apple Valley, Minn.
Climate change is wreaking havoc on the global insurance market
Climate change is wreaking havoc on the global insurance market. That’s the takeaway from a piece in Grist that points out natural disasters now cost the U.S. insurance industry $100 billion a year.
Minnesota tree nursery plans big expansion to meet demand
Minnesotans are planting more trees. Efforts to mitigate climate change are driving the demand. The outdated state tree nursery in northern Minnesota is undergoing major renovations so it can grow millions of new seedlings each year.