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.

'Living coral' crowned color of the year for 2019
Pantone chose the "vibrant, yet mellow" shade for its ability to bridge the natural and digital worlds. The pick comes at a poignant time, given the existential threats the color's namesake now faces.
Michigan Senate OKs bill to enable Great Lakes pipeline deal
The Michigan Senate voted Wednesday to facilitate a deal to replace a contentious 65-year-old oil pipeline in the Great Lakes, approving legislation to empower a new authority to oversee the construction and operation of a utility tunnel that would encase the new pipeline.
Study: Cover crops, trees key to fighting climate change
A new study finds that changes in land use across the country could help mitigate climate change in a bigger way than previously known, without affecting land humans need.
Lovely bones: Skull man of Bemidji strips taxidermy to its core
Deer hunting is over across most of Minnesota. But for one Bemidji man, a different kind of season is just getting started. Tony Petrie makes European mounts, and it's not a job for the squeamish.
Video: To save a fox, scientists took to land, air and sea
When the population of Channel Islands foxes started to vanish in the '90s, no one knew why. Bringing them back from near-extinction has meant unraveling a mystery that started with World War II.
DNR plans 2 December deer hunts to manage wasting disease
The Department of Natural Resources plans two special deer hunts this month aimed at limiting the spread of chronic wasting disease in wild deer in southeastern Minnesota.
Fishermen sue Big Oil for its role in climate change
The food industry is already feeling the effects of climate change, which will likely force expensive adaptations in the future. At least one sector is looking to make energy companies pay.
Peterson: New farm bill preserves status quo, but will it help farmers enough?
The farm bill, which funds everything from food stamps to conservation programs, expired in September. House and Senate negotiators, including U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., say they have a deal and will push for votes in the next few weeks.