Environmental News

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

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For the first time, EPA to require taconite plants to slash mercury emissions
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a new rule that for the first time would require mining companies to limit mercury emissions from Minnesota’s six taconite iron ore processing plants.
A U of M initiative looks to create climate-informed health care professionals
A cadre of new nurses will be graduating in just some days from the University of Minnesota. And they’ll be trained to not only care for our human health but also the planet’s health.
'Big, bold idea': Duluth hopes to heat homes with wastewater energy
Federal funds will help Duluth design a system to use leftover energy from a wastewater treatment plant to heat hundreds of buildings in the burgeoning Lincoln Park neighborhood. One advocate says it could become a national model.
Camp Ripley to test nearby residents’ water for 'forever chemicals'
Officials are asking to test the drinking water of about 30 property owners who live within a quarter-mile of the camp, where foam containing PFAS chemicals was used for testing and training until 2017.
Rare good news for butterflies — but pesticides still a big worry
A widely used class of insecticides is known to harm both native bees and honeybees. But a new University of Minnesota study finds the neonicotinoid insecticides have little effect on adult Monarch butterflies.
Recent Minneapolis bear sighting is part of larger trend, experts say
A bear was euthanized after it was spotted wandering in a north Minneapolis neighborhood on Sunday, and it’s part of a larger trend of more bear sightings, officials said.
Out-of-control wildfires cause evacuations in western Canada
A provincewide state of emergency was declared in Alberta as more than 110 wildfires burned across the province, while two out-of-control wildfires burned in British Columbia.
No Mow May? Good intentions, bad approach, critics say
There's a growing movement called No Mow May that asks people to abstain from mowing their lawns until June first. The intention is admirable. The idea is to let grass and weeds grow and bloom to provide food and shelter for essential pollinators early in the season, when that's hard for them to find. But AP gardening columnist Jessica Damiano thinks it’s not a good idea.