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

Meet Trapper, the dog helping Minnesota's DNR sniff out invasive zebra mussels

Meet Trapper, the dog helping Minnesota's DNR sniff out invasive zebra mussels

Invasive zebra mussels have infested five percent of Minnesota’s treasured lakes, rivers and waterways, where they gobble up nutrients that native fish and plants need. So to keep them from spreading, the state’s Department of Natural Resources is using specially trained K-9s to sniff them out.
by Catharine Richert

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Excess nutrients can lie dormant in soil for years before polluting rivers, study finds

Excess nutrients can lie dormant in soil for years before polluting rivers, study finds

U.S. Geological Survey researchers developed models to better understand the timing and sources contributing to nutrient pollution in streams and rivers. They say their findings can help guide efforts to improve water quality.

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At the Great Minnesota Get-Together, sanitation workers spearhead trash awareness, composting

At the Great Minnesota Get-Together, sanitation workers spearhead trash awareness, composting

There has to be somewhere all that waste goes at the fair. Cue: the unsung hero of sanitation workers. Two workers say that working in sustainability, especially composting, has transformed how they look at the fair.
by Regina Medina

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Shallow water at public landings creates hazard for Minnesota boaters

Shallow water at public landings creates hazard for Minnesota boaters

At many public accesses, more of the boat ramp’s planks are above the water line than they normally are. That makes it more difficult to enter and exit the lake, especially with larger boats and longer trailers.
by Kirsti Marohn

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How will Minnesota's drought conditions affect fall colors this year?

How will Minnesota's drought conditions affect fall colors this year?

There are clear impacts of drought, such as poor crops and increased fire danger. But the affect that drought has on Minnesota’s trees can be less obvious — and take longer to become evident.
by Phineas Pope

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Minnesota activates drought task force as conditions worsen

Minnesota activates drought task force as conditions worsen

MPR News host Cathy Wurzer spoke with Randall Doneen, deputy director of Minnesota’s Department of Natural Resources’s ecological and water resources division, about the state’s drought task force.
by Cathy Wurzer and Aron Woldeslassie

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Why are Minnesota electricity bills going up?

Why are Minnesota electricity bills going up?

Hot temperatures, grid upgrades and higher returns are some of the factors behind energy costs.
by Harshawn Ratanpal

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Hastings sues 3M over ‘forever chemicals’ in drinking water

Hastings sues 3M over ‘forever chemicals’ in drinking water

The lawsuit alleges that chemicals known as PFAS emitted from the smokestacks of 3M's Cottage Grove facility were carried downwind and deposited onto the soil, where they leached into Hastings' public wells.
by Kirsti Marohn

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