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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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Listen to Climate Cast, the MPR News podcast all about our changing climate and its impact in Minnesota and worldwide.

Fight against invasive species pits state against lake property owners

Fight against invasive species pits state against lake property owners

The state's strategy to slow the spread of aquatic invasive species was caught up in controversy when a conservation group charged with allocating Legacy Funds replaced a proposal by another group with one of its own.
by Dan Gunderson

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Arguments involving Minntac mine expansion in court Thursday

The Minnesota Court of Appeals hears arguments Thursday in a case involving the proposed expansion of the state's largest taconite mine.
by Dan Kraker

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State wants to test 200 homes for potentially hazardous vapor

State wants to test 200 homes for potentially hazardous vapor

State officials told residents of the Como neighborhood in Minneapolis that they want to test 200 homes to see if vapors caused by a nearby General Mills Superfund site have breached the houses.
by Lorna Benson

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Minn. wolf hunt: More than 40 killed so far

Hunters killed more than 40 wolves in northern Minnesota during the first weekend of the wolf season, Department of Natural Resources data show.
by Mark Steil

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State regulators, activists discuss Sherco power plant's future

State regulators, activists discuss Sherco power plant's future

Carbon dioxide emissions from Xcel Energy's Sherburne County Generating Station, which puts out enough electricity to serve more than 2 million homes and businesses, raise concerns about climate change.
by Elizabeth Dunbar

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Sierra Club takes on Minnesota coal-fired power plants

"When we're talking about moving beyond coal, we're not just talking about transitioning our energy economy, this is very personal for young people," organizer Alexis Boxer said.

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Minneapolis to update Como residents about potentially harmful vapor plume

Minneapolis to update Como residents about potentially harmful vapor plume

Recent soil tests in a small section of the Como neighborhood show that vapor levels from a common solvent exceed government health limits for indoor air.State officials will hold two public meetings Tuesday to update residents in the area of the potential hazard.
by Lorna Benson

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Photos: The Nisbit sand mining site

Photos: The Nisbit sand mining site

This 19-acre site is the only mine approved in the region since the debate over silica sand mining began a few years ago.
by Alex Kolyer

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Slowing demand for frac sand changes the landscape in southeast Minnesota

Slowing demand for frac sand changes the landscape in southeast Minnesota

Sand is the crucial ingredient in the oil and natural gas extraction process known as fracking, and there are large deposits of it in the steep bluffs along the Mississippi River. But demand for sand has dropped.
by Elizabeth Baier

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Report: Measure Great Lakes cleanup progress

A government report says the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency should do more to make sure a Great Lakes cleanup program is meeting its goals.

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