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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Frac sand health fears rise as mining booms in Wisconsin
Some Wisconsin residents are frustrated with the Department of Natural Resources' lack of a comprehensive approach to addressing concerns surrounding potential health problems from crystalline silica dust.
According to a new University of Minnesota study published online Thursday in the journal Science, reducing phosphorus can result in less of the microbial processes that eliminate another unwanted nutrient: nitrogen.
Over 20,000 barrels of oil have spilled in a wheat field in northwestern North Dakota.
In the mid-1990s, the Public Utilities Commission began to calculate what economists call the "external costs" — damages — caused by electricity generation. They include pollutants that contribute to asthma, heart and lung disease, and greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.
The sale of forestland to a big potato grower in northern Minnesota is drawing fire from some legislators who are concerned that runoff from the fields could pollute the Pinelands Sands aquifer.
Wolf researchers gather in Duluth to discuss increased human contact
Wolf researchers from around the world will gather in Duluth this weekend for the International Wolf Symposium, hosted by the International Wolf Center in Ely.
Bill McKibben documents climate change movement in 'Oil and Honey'
Environmental activist Bill McKibben says he "wanted to show that anyone can do this. Activism isn't just the province of big groups or experts."
White-nose fungus imperils Minnesota bats
A fungus that eats at bats' wings has been found in Mystery Cave and Soudan Underground Mine, two of Minnesota's largest bat caves. In East Coast states, the white nose fungus has wiped out nearly 6 million bats.
See inside a Minnesota bat cave
Thousands of Minnesota's most common bats make their winter homes here. So do a handful of the less common big brown bats and tri-colored bats, also known as eastern pipistrelles.
Minnesota, like some other states, currently requires a year-round 5 percent blend known as B5 for most diesel sales.