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.

Russia is draining a massive Ukrainian reservoir, endangering a nuclear plant
Satellite data show water levels plummeting at the massive Kakhovka Reservoir. The reservoir supplies drinking water, irrigates vast tracts of farmland, and cools Europe's largest nuclear plant.
Winter Play: Behind the scenes, capturing the moment
When 10 different reporters set out to try new-to-them winter activities, how do you begin to plan visual coverage for their stories? If you’re the photographer assigned to the project, you might just find yourself trying a new activity or two. 
‘Rusty’ batteries could hold key to Minnesota's carbon-free power future
Two Minnesota utilities plan to install iron-air battery storage systems as they transition to clean energy sources. The batteries are made of iron, an element that’s abundant around the world — including in Minnesota.
How to spot and combat climate misinformation and disinformation
There’s a lot of climate information out there – as well as climate mis- and disinformation. So how can we tell what’s credible science and what isn’t?
Searchers locate 153-year-old wreck of 'bad luck' ship in Lake Superior
It wasn’t a charm, but the third time — a third sinking — is what finally sealed the fate of the sailing vessel Nucleus in 1869. Now, searchers have found the wreck of the Nucleus, surprisingly intact, in the depths of Lake Superior.
In St. Cloud, VP Harris promotes electric vehicles
Days after President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, Vice President Kamala Harris was in St. Cloud to highlight the administration’s record on electric vehicles.
Winter Play: How polar explorer Ann Bancroft finds magic in the winter
Polar explorer Ann Bancroft might be winter’s biggest champion. But Bancroft, who’s set records traveling to the North and South Poles, and crossing Antarctica, says the key to surviving our coldest months is to tap into your inner child. 
Why the EPA puts a higher value on rich lives lost to climate change
There is one number that the Environmental Protection Agency relies on to decide which climate policies to pursue. So why does that number assume the lives of richer people are worth more?
Walz signs carbon-free energy bill, prompting threat of lawsuit
Clean energy advocates, large utilities and labor unions said the new target would put the state on track to reduce carbon emissions and address climate change. But North Dakota officials say they may sue over the new law.