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.

Kentucky storms bring flooding, power outages, possible tornadoes
Kentucky’s governor declared a state of emergency on Saturday as storms ripped through the state causing flash floods, power outages and property damage, including from possible tornadoes. The storms came just three weeks after deadly tornadoes tore through the region.
Xcel seeks change in Prairie Island nuclear waste storage
The utility says a change in cask type likely would cut costs and make it easier to transport the waste to a storage site outside of Minnesota.
Official: Three people missing, nearly 1,000 structures destroyed in Colorado wildfire
A Colorado official says nearly 1,000 homes were destroyed, hundreds more were damaged, and that three people are missing after a wildfire charred numerous neighborhoods in a suburban area at the base of the Rocky Mountains northwest of Denver.
Minnesota forests, peatlands on list of 'irrecoverable carbon'
A Conservation International study has mapped forests and other natural areas that store so much carbon, it could be impossible to offset their emissions if lost to development or natural disasters.
The Minnesota Supreme Court says it will review a ruling by the Minnesota Court of Appeals that provided environmental protections for Renville County’s last free-flowing stream.
Appeals court says group can sue over Minnesota mining rules
A Minnesota appellate court has affirmed that a wilderness advocacy group has standing to challenge state rules on copper mine sites. The Minnesota Appeals Court's ruling Monday means that Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness' lawsuit can continue.
The first renovated 'living building' in the world is here in MN
A lodge at Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center in Finland, Minn., is the first renovation project in the world to receive full Living Building Challenge certification. The executive director of Wolf Ridge told host Cathy Wurzer more about the unique, cutting-edge sustainability features of the building.
University of Minnesota meets its emissions reduction goal a year early
A new report says the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus has surpassed its goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2021. It reached 51 percent a year early, in 2020.
In 2021, climate ambitions soared and crashed in the U.S. and around the world
President Joe Biden's lofty domestic goals were brought down to earth by congressional opposition, notably from one Democratic senator. International efforts to fight planetary warming also fell short.
How climate change is affecting winter in Minnesota
Climate change is reshaping Minnesota's winter. Change is evident in the state’s ecosystem, its economy and its collective identity, a climatologist and a climate researcher discussed on MPR News with Angela Davis Tuesday.