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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U.S. agency pledges $20 million to save monarch butterfly
The money will be spent over the next five years and is spurred by a steady decline in the number of monarch butterflies.
Methane is the "second most prevalent greenhouse gas emitted in the United States from human activities" according to the EPA.
A conversation on zoos, conservation and the future of the Minnesota Zoo
Outgoing CEO of the Minnesota Zoo looks back on his tenure and shares his view of the role of zoos in a world with shrinking animal habitat.
The world's most trafficked mammal is one you've never heard of
The pangolin, a shy, scaly animal resembling an anteater, is being hunted into extinction, conservationists say. New efforts are underway to protect this exotic creature.
Everyday foods: How corn became ubiquitous
As August brings us to the peak of sweet corn season, we look at the ways corn plays a role in the food we eat, to the materials we use for paint, or even fireworks.
GMOs are becoming a proxy for bigger concerns about the food system
Social scientists and consumer researchers say the battle over GMOs isn't really about GMOs. They say GMOs have become a stand-in for what consumers really want: less processed, natural food.
EPA rules aim to slash oil industry methane emissions
The standards would apply to new oil and natural gas production and require companies to fix equipment and practices that allow methane to leak.
Supporters of the 1855 Treaty Authority, which is independent of the state's tribal governments, plan to gather wild rice on Hole-in-the-Day Lake in Nisswa on Aug. 27.