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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.

Minnesota garbage study offers 'wake up call,' pollution control agency head says

Minnesota garbage study offers 'wake up call,' pollution control agency head says

Food waste and other organic material made up nearly a third of what Minnesotans sent to landfills in 2012, according to a new state study. MPCA Commissioner John Linc Stine called the report a "wake-up call," pointing to the large amount of recyclable material being thrown away.
by Elizabeth Dunbar

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Tense week ahead for UN climate talks

Tense week ahead for UN climate talks

The two-decade-old negotiations have so far failed to achieve their goal of slashing emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases that scientists say are warming the planet.

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New silica sand mining advisory panel formed

Two state agencies in charge of regulating the silica sand mining industry are creating a new advisory committee.
by Elizabeth Baier

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Minn. deer harvest running behind as hunt ends

Minn. deer harvest running behind as hunt ends

The firearms deer hunting season for most of the state ends this weekend and the harvest so far is still running behind last year's.
by Dan Kraker

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Urban hens often abandoned once egg-laying days pass

Urban hens often abandoned once egg-laying days pass

Some find the fun of bringing a slice of farm life into the city stops when the hens become infertile. Hesitant to kill, pluck and eat a chicken, some people abandon the animal in a park or rural area.

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To help the moose, wildlife group sets climate change agenda

To help the moose, wildlife group sets climate change agenda

National Wildlife Federation says big game animals are at risk from warmer temperatures.

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Rethinking a company town: International Falls tries to forge new future

Rethinking a company town: International Falls tries to forge new future

Last year, this iconic border town lost nearly 300 good-paying paper mill jobs. The shock has subsided and tears have dried, but the work of rethinking what this company town might become is just beginning.
by Tom Weber, Jennifer Vogel and Dave Peters

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Report warns of climate threat to Minn. big game

Conservationists warn that climate change threatens big game animals that call Minnesota home -- from moose to deer to bears.

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Environmental review requested in Minntac expansion

Environmental advocates Thursday asked a court to order a full environmental review of plans to expand Minnesota's largest taconite mine.
by Dan Kraker

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Legacy council members criticize invasive species plan

Legacy council members criticize invasive species plan

The council that recommends how the state should spend Legacy Fund money on the outdoors is criticizing an invasive species project for being too vague and possibly violating the intent of the constitutional amendment.
by Elizabeth Dunbar

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