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.

For the Marshall Islands, the climate goal Is '1.5 to stay alive'
The islands have more to lose than most any country at the Paris climate summit. Some territory is already disappearing under rising seas. The foreign minister explains the predicament.
Coleman, mayors address Mississippi River issues at Paris climate talks
Members of the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative traveled to the U.N. Conference on Climate Change in France to learn how other river communities are addressing the challenges of water quality and climate change.
State agency heads nix PolyMet public health impact review
Three state agency officials said an environmental impact statement for the controversial mining project already addresses potential public health impacts.
Carbon farming gets a nod at Paris climate conference
Using farmland to capture carbon rather than release it into the atmosphere is called carbon farming. The idea is taking off and countries and institutions have endorsed a new agenda promoting it.
Is this Congressman's 'oversight' an effort to hobble climate science?
Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas is formally investigating a recent study on global warming. Smith calls the timing of the study's publication "suspicious." But many scientists call his tactics "bullying."
Beijing issues its first ever 'red alert' over air pollution
Schools were advised to cancel classes and some industrial plants have to slow or stop production. This is first time Beijing has issued a red alert since it instituted the warning system in 2013.
Winona artist says he was first to swim Mississippi
A Navy vet who claims to be the first American to swim the entire length of the Mississippi River is wrong, a Minnesota man insists.
It's been seven years since the passing of the Clean Water, Land, and Legacy amendment. Today we reach out to the Minnesota Clean Water Council and the Water Resources Center to check in on the amendment's effectiveness.
Tough times, overfishing shake Superior's herring fleet
Lake Superior herring numbers are plummeting, putting the lake's small but iconic commercial fishery in jeopardy. Overfishing is a problem. New research suggests climate change could also be partly to blame.