Environmental News

MPR News is your source for environment news from Minnesota and across the country.

Getting to Green: Minnesota’s energy future

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Army Corps of Engineers grants final permit for PolyMet mine
PolyMet Mining Corp. has received the final permit it needs to proceed with building Minnesota's first copper-nickel mine, the company and the Army Corps of Engineers announced Friday.
Floods show national security threat posed by climate change
The military has warned that climate change is a security threat on many fronts. That includes "through direct impacts on U.S. military infrastructure and by affecting factors, including food and water availability, that can exacerbate conflict outside U.S. borders," the government's grim climate report said last year.
Hungry wolves may get new home at Isle Royale National Park
A U.S.-Canadian team prepared Thursday for another mission to relocate gray wolves to Isle Royale National Park in Michigan from a second Lake Superior island, where the predators are in danger of starvation after gobbling up a caribou herd.
Great Lakes feeling the burn from climate change
The Great Lakes region is warming faster than the rest of the U.S., a trend likely to bring more extreme storms while also degrading water quality, worsening erosion and posing tougher challenges for farming, an environmental advocacy group said Thursday.
Minnesota's famed winter isn't what it used to be
Minnesota is among the fastest warming states, and Minnesota's winters are warming faster than its other seasons. Data show that since 1970, Minnesota's winters have warmed at an average rate of 1.1 degrees per decade -- that's more than five times faster than the rate of winter warming in previous years.
U.S. judge blocks oil, gas drilling over climate change
A judge has blocked oil and gas drilling on almost 500 square miles in Wyoming. The order marks the latest in a string of court rulings over the past decade faulting the government's consideration of emissions when issuing energy leases.
For second year in a row, Enbridge Energy spends the most in Minnesota on lobbying
For the past several years Enbridge has advocated before the PUC for the highly contentious Line 3 oil pipeline, a $2.6 billion project to replace a corroding pipeline across northern Minnesota with a larger pipe along a different route.