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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.

4 ways to use less polluting salt in cold weather

4 ways to use less polluting salt in cold weather

Warmer weather this week may be a good opportunity to help curb the salt running into our streams and lakes.
by Tim Nelson

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As east suburbs tighten groundwater use, Mpls wants to drill new wells

As east suburbs tighten groundwater use, Mpls wants to drill new wells

We’ve covered extensively the discussion happening in the north and east metro over concerns about the groundwater supply. Suburbs are trying to figure out how to use less water, and the Metropolitan Council has pushed the idea of getting more cities in the region to tap into surface water from the Mississippi River. Both Minneapolis Read more →
by Elizabeth Dunbar

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DNR’s Landwehr to locals on groundwater: ‘You figure it out.’

DNR Commissioner Tom Landwehr launched his agency’s new approach to groundwater management in part of the Twin Cities Wednesday, stressing that local officials have an opportunity to make better decisions than the state can by itself.
by Dave Peters

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Whales, dolphins are collateral damage in our taste for seafood

Whales, dolphins are collateral damage in our taste for seafood

More than 80 percent of the seafood consumed in the U.S. now comes from abroad. And fishermen in other parts of the world continue to kill not just dolphins but seals and even whales. So conservation groups are calling for tougher import rules to protect sea animals at risk from fishing.
by Richard Harris

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Twin Metals mine study due mid-2014

Twin Metals is expected to be larger than the proposed PolyMet mine near Babbitt, which would be Minnesota's first copper-nickel mining operation if it wins all the necessary approvals.
by The Associated Press

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With White Bear as poster child, Minnesota tests new approach to limited water supplies

With White Bear as poster child, Minnesota tests new approach to limited water supplies

A new effort involving just about anyone who flushes a toilet from Lino Lakes to Woodbury is about to eclipse the scattered sprinkling limits and water-saving campaigns to rescue a shrinking White Bear Lake. And that could be just a first step in getting Minnesota residents, businesses and others to think differently about how they use water.
by Elizabeth Dunbar

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What is your community’s most significant water problem?

What is your community’s most significant water problem?

“Even in the land of 10,000 lakes, water is no longer unlimited. Lakes shrink, groundwater drops, wells go dry or get contaminated. Some cities have to look harder for good municipal water or pay more to treat it. Twenty years ago these were isolated problems. But three-quarters of Minnesota’s residents get their water from aquifer-tapping…
by Michael Olson

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Energy independence? Careful what you wish for

Energy independence? Careful what you wish for

A long-sought goal of U.S. energy policy turns out to be a blend of good and bad.

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“Beneath the Surface:” Help us look at Minnesota’s pending groundwater challenge

MPR News’ Ground Level project is launching an examination of the growing concern that Minnesota’s groundwater — source of water to three-quarters of the state’s residents — is on a path that can’t be sustained.
by Dave Peters

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