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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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Minn. pipeline firm wants to expand capacity

Minn. pipeline firm wants to expand capacity

The company has asked the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission to approve its plans to double the capacity of its Line 4 pipeline, built in 2008 to carry 165,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
by Elizabeth Dunbar

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Critics worry proposed Twin Metals mine will affect Boundary Waters, tourism

Critics worry proposed Twin Metals mine will affect Boundary Waters, tourism

Twin Metals has been quietly completing its plans for a massive underground mine just a few miles south of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The mine would create more than 1,000 jobs, but those benefits aren't enough to win over critics.
by Dan Kraker

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Minneapolis ponders plastic-foam ban

City's recycling program does not accept plastic foam.

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Some plastic food containers could be banned in Minneapolis

Some plastic food containers could be banned in Minneapolis

Although the plastic in the foam is recyclable, it is one of the few types of plastic Minneapolis doesn't recycle.
by Curtis Gilbert

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Across rural Minnesota, water woes threaten to choke small town growth

Across rural Minnesota, water woes threaten to choke small town growth

A rural Minnesota research group is suggesting that water availability is becoming an economic bottleneck and that development is being threatened by a need to re-build water and sewage systems around the state.
by Dave Peters

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Two Harbors fined over wastewater spill in Lake Superior

In addition to a $19,000 fine, the city also has to install sand filters at its treatment plant to remove mercury from its effluent.
by Dan Kraker

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Drinking from a limestone quarry in Burnsville and Savage

Drinking from a limestone quarry in Burnsville and Savage

Burnsville and Savage find a water solution that preserves a sensitive environmental area and gives some assurance for a long-time supply of drinking water.
by Dave Peters

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Franken to push for oil train safety measures

Franken to push for oil train safety measures

The increased frequency of crude oil shipments on the railroads risk more accidents like the explosion that occurred west of Fargo in December, the senator said.
by Dan Gunderson

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New exhibit looks at the controversial genius of John James Audubon

New exhibit looks at the controversial genius of John James Audubon

John James Audubon set out in the early 1800s with the goal of painting every bird of America, life-sized and in color, and then publishing his work. "Given that he was basically a shopkeeper on the American frontier, to have this idea was kind of ridiculous," said Don Luce, curator of "Audubon and the Art of Birds" running at the University of Minnesota's Bell Museum of Natural History through June 8.
by MPR News Staff

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