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.

Submit a question or story for Getting to Green here.

Climate Cast

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

Groups call for greater federal oversight of insurance industry amidst climate change impacts
Several groups call on Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and the Financial Stability Oversight Council to provide greater federal oversight of the insurance industry in light of soaring disaster costs.
Talking Volumes: Margaret Renkl on 'The Comfort of Crows'
New York Times columnist and nature writer Margaret Renkl closed out the 2023 Talking Volumes season with meditations on the joys of a backyard oasis, the inevitable losses of a warming climate and how to live while holding both of those truths in tandem.
From Minnesota to Arizona, new research tracks a remarkable, centenarian fish
New research has found several species of the buffalofish, which are native to Minnesota, can live to be well over 100 years old. That’s helped spark new appreciation for the fish, and efforts to give it greater protection.
Split Rock Lighthouse hosts annual Edmund Fitzgerald memorial ceremony
A crowd of several hundred people is expected to gather at Split Rock Lighthouse on Friday for a memorial ceremony and beacon-lighting to mark the 48th anniversary of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
Plan to convert Cambridge gas plant to burn diesel gets OK
Great River Energy says the project will provide flexibility when natural gas isn’t available or its price spikes. Environmental groups say it will increase local air pollution and carbon emissions.
EPA says 'further actions' needed to protect human health from nitrate in southeast Minnesota
Environmental groups petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, saying nitrate in the groundwater in southeast Minnesota’s karst region — largely from fertilizer and manure applied to crop land — poses an imminent danger to human health.
A pod of orcas has sunk a yacht in the Strait of Gibraltar
The pod rammed the boat's rudder for about 45 minutes. Authorities were able to get crew members to land safely, but their yacht was irreparably damaged.
St. Paul's Como Zoo welcomes new baby giraffe
St. Paul’s Como Zoo welcomed a new baby giraffe this week — and it’ll likely be on view to the public in the next few weeks.
The battle over land use: Farm crops versus solar farms
The U.S. Department of Energy estimates the U.S. will need 10 million acres of solar panels by 2050 to meet the nation’s net zero-carbon goals. That means acreage currently used for farmland will become solar farms.