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.

April 23, 2018 4:00 AM

Report shows Midwest's most 'climate resilient' landscapes

The latest report from the Nature Conservancy focuses on different locations' capacity to support a variety of species despite climate change.

by Elizabeth Dunbar

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April 23, 2018 12:00 AM

Climate One: Dieselgate's Impact on the Auto Industry

A look at the future of the auto industry, and personal mobility, after Volkswagen's air emissions cheating scandal.

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April 22, 2018 6:15 PM

Who cares if they're cute? This zoologist accepts animals on their own terms

Zoologist Lucy Cooke says humans aren't doing animals any favors when we moralize their behavior. Her book The Truth About Animals is organized around "fact and not sentimentality."

by Lulu Garcia-Navarro

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April 22, 2018 3:00 PM

The Rocky Mountains have a dust problem

Dust in the Rocky Mountain snow can cause elevated water runoff, and greater opportunities for forest fires.

by Luke Runyon

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April 20, 2018 3:03 PM

Auditor hits MN animal health board over chronic wasting oversight

The board failed to systematically analyze testing of animals on deer and elk farms for chronic wasting disease and didn't appropriately penalize farmers who did not comply with testing rules, the state legislative auditor's office says.

by Dan Gunderson

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April 20, 2018 8:05 AM

8 years after Deepwater Horizon explosion, is another disaster waiting to happen?

Eight years after the deadly Deepwater Horizon explosion, a safety watchdog aims to prevent another disaster. But it faces multiple challenges, and a shift in focus under the Trump administration.

by Jie Jenny Zou

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April 20, 2018 4:00 AM

A sign of the future in Morris: Cows + solar panels + fast electric car charger

Researchers at the University of Minnesota's West Central Research and Outreach Center in Morris say solar arrays and electric vehicles could help offset greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture.

by Elizabeth Dunbar

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April 19, 2018 4:07 PM

DNR: Smallmouth bass population of Mille Lacs 'healthy'

As the debate over how to manage the walleye of Mille Lacs has dragged on, the lake's reputation as a destination for smallmouth bass fishing has continued to rise.

by Kirsti Marohn

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April 19, 2018 3:10 PM

To curb ocean pollution, U.K. may ban plastic straws, stirrers and cotton swabs

Prime Minister Theresa May called plastic waste "one of the greatest environmental challenges facing the world." The government said it will work with industry to develop alternatives.