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.

Pandemic bike boom gives cities permission to green their streets
A survey of residents in six European countries found 75 percent of respondents supported maintaining changes to streets that have allowed for more biking and socially-distant walking during the pandemic.
U of M Morris now carbon neutral on electricity
The latest milestone means the balance of the electricity the university uses is generated from clean energy sources that don’t give off carbon dioxide, which contributes to climate change.
Judge rejects Dakota Access request for emergency order
A federal judge rejected a request for an emergency order to delay the process of shutting down the Dakota Access pipeline while attorneys appeal a ruling to shutter the pipeline during the course of an environmental review. 
UN predicts rise in diseases that jump from animals to humans
Zoonotic pathogens, which include not only COVID-19, but HIV/AIDS and Ebola, have increasingly emerged due to stresses humans have placed on animal habitats, according to a new United Nations report.
Crop failure rate for wild rice is increasing with climate change
Climate change is taking a significant toll on wild rice in Minnesota and Wisconsin, and the plant's significance to Ojibwe communities makes finding a solution all the more delicate — and dire.