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.

Intelligence Squared debate: It's time to expand nuclear power
An Intelligence Squared U.S. debate. Four experts debate the motion: “It’s time to expand nuclear power.”
Enbridge Inc. said Friday it has launched the permitting process for rerouting part of its Line 5 pipeline across northern Wisconsin after the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa sued to force removal of the pipeline from its reservation.
Rochester-based power provider pledges to be 80 percent carbon-free in 10 years
Currently the Southern Minnesota Municipal Power Agency gets much of its power from the coal-fired Sherco 3 power plant in Becker, Minn. But Sherco 3’s majority owner, Xcel Energy, announced last year it intends to retire the plant in 2030.
Antarctica hit 65 degrees this week — potential record high for the continent
WMO says the Antarctic Peninsula on the continent's northwest tip near South America is among the fastest warming regions on Earth. Temperatures there have risen almost 3 degrees Celsius over the last half-century.
High water wreaks havoc on Great Lakes, swamping communities
The five inland seas are bursting at the seams during the region's wettest period in more than a century, which scientists say is likely connected to the warming climate. And no relief is in sight. Meanwhile, the toll is extensive: accelerated erosion; homes and businesses flooded; roads and sidewalks crumbled; beaches washed away; parks rendered unusable.
Some Midwest farmers see hope in Democrats' climate platforms
A small group of farmers in Iowa believe they’ve influenced the field of Democratic presidential candidates to focus more on climate change and how agriculture can be part of the solution to global warming.
Bumblebees are disappearing because of extreme heat
New research shows that climate change and habitat loss are causing widespread decline among bumblebees in North America and Europe — and putting ecosystems that depend on these pollinators at risk.
MN students were in Puerto Rico learning about energy resilience when a quake knocked the power out
The students got a front-row seat to the kind of scenarios they’ll be planning for as future regional planners and civic leaders. The frequency and intensity of disasters such as storms, fires and flooding are expected to worsen under climate change.
Bill to ban copper-nickel mining draws sharp contrast between Boundary Waters, Iron Range
A bill that would ban copper-nickel mining on about 234,000 acres of the Superior National Forest in northern Minnesota had its first Congressional hearing Wednesday. The debate highlighted what two unique places, so close together — the Iron Range and the Boundary Waters — mean to different people.