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.

Walz calls for 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2040
Governor Tim Walz is pushing a goal for Minnesota to produce 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2040, a decade earlier than he previously proposed. 
Wisconsin DNR board refuses to set early wolf hunt
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources policy board narrowly refused Republican legislators' request Friday to implement a wolf hunt immediately, citing concerns that the department can't move that fast and Wisconsin's Native American tribes haven't been consulted as per treaty rights.
Neighbors make surprise discovery in Duluth beach restoration: Shreds of vintage cans
In the past few months, people who live along Duluth's Park Point spit have been picking up shredded aluminum cans — by the bagful — on the neighborhood's Lake Superior beach. The metal fragments were inadvertently deposited there last fall, when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dredged sediment from the harbor to help build back the eroding beach.
6 numbers that show President Biden's greatest challenges
President Joe Biden is calling for unity to address several current crises, but that will prove difficult in a country as divided as ever.
Americans are moving to escape climate impacts. Towns expect more to come
Nashua, N.H., expects to be a destination for people migrating away from the coasts and toward cooler temperatures. Officials say a pandemic influx has shown the need to plan for that growth.
On Day One, Biden targets Trump policies on climate, virus
On his first day in office, President Joe Biden is moving to dismantle Donald Trump's legacy by signing a series of executive actions that reverse course on immigration, climate change, racial equity and the handling of the coronavirus pandemic. 
Federal court strikes down major Trump climate rollback
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia says the Trump administration acted illegally under the Clean Air Act in easing federal regulation of pollution from power plants.
After increase in litter and damage in Boundary Waters last year, officials stepping up education efforts
After a surge of visitors brought an increase in litter and damage to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness last year, officials are taking steps to head off similar problems this year.
Biden outlines 'Day One' agenda of executive actions
Following his inauguration, Biden will end Trump's restriction on immigration to the U.S. from some Muslim-majority countries, move to rejoin the Paris climate accord and mandate mask-wearing on federal property and during interstate travel.