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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Data centers spark opposition from residents, concerns over energy use
Tract, a development company based in Colorado, is proposing to build the $5 billion project for an undisclosed company, one of several data centers under construction or planned in Minnesota.
Backers of proposed resort expansion near Ely drop plans amid state lawsuit
Backers of a proposed $45 million expansion of Silver Rapids Lodge near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness have dropped their plans after a lawsuit from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
‘Green Gold’: Booming demand for holiday greenery sparks illicit trade in northern Minnesota
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources says unlicensed bandits are snipping off the tops of spruce trees, trying to cash in on a market that one legal harvester calls “green gold.” 
After years of delays, revived taconite mine offers new economic hope on Minnesota’s Iron Range
Mesabi Metallics — a controversial project that’s been in the works for more than two decades and could be the first new taconite mine in Minnesota in nearly 50 years — is once again bringing hopes of economic revival to the Iron Range.
Critical habitat proposed for the rusty patched bumble bee in Minnesota
A plan to protect the endangered rusty patched bumble bee would designate 1.6 million acres of critical habitat across six states, including Minnesota. Most of the proposed habitat is in urban areas.
Southeast corner of Minnesota remains chronic wasting disease hotspot 
Early chronic wasting disease (CWD) testing results from this year’s firearms deer hunt shows the always-fatal infection has not spread to other parts of the state but remains high in places which were already a concern.