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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.

Minn. regulators question benefit of Enbridge pipeline plan

Enbridge Energy would increase the line's flow to 800,000 barrels a day by adding new pumps along an oil line in Alberta, Canada, to Superior, Wis.

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Xcel running tests on Sherco coal plant

After some delays, Xcel Energy's Sherco coal plant is almost back online. The plant was damaged in 2011 and repairs were supposed to be completed in March of this year.
by Conrad Wilson

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Enbridge Minn. pipeline plan needs more study, regulators say

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission decided Wednesday that a comprehensive study is needed for the second phase of the proposed Enbridge Energy pipeline expansion.
by Stephanie Hemphill

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Bald eagles are back in a big way -- and the talons are out

After nearly being wiped out, inadvertently, by strong insecticides that were in widespread use until the 1970s, bald eagles have come roaring back. But now competition for nests and mates is fierce.

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Photos: The legacy of the 'Root Beer Lady'

Photos: The legacy of the 'Root Beer Lady'

The Dorothy Molter Museum in Ely, Minn., celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, telling the story of the last full time resident of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. For more than half a century the "Root Beer Lady," as she became known, defied the government to live alone on an island, 15 miles from the nearest road.

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Boundary Waters fires under control

The Knife Lake fire will be declared officially controlled once additional clean-up work is finished.

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Scientists find plastic in all of Great Lakes

Scientists find plastic in all of Great Lakes

One hypothesis is that the plastic in the Great Lakes starts small, possibly as scrubbing beads in household or beauty products, facial scrubs and even some toothpaste.

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Champlin lifts bans sprinklers, car washes after drop in water pressure

The city of Champlin has lifted its earlier ban on residents from watering lawns and washing cars following a drop in water pressure caused by a computer problem.

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BWCA portages and campsites to reopen after fire

Nearly two inches of rain have helped firefighters suppress a wildfire burning in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area near the Canadian border.
by Dan Kraker

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