Environmental News

MPR News is your source for environment news from Minnesota and across the country.

Getting to Green: Minnesota’s energy future

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Carbon pollution up to 2 million pounds a second
The amount of heat-trapping pollution the world spewed rose again last year by 3 percent. So scientists say it's now unlikely that global warming can be limited to a couple degrees, which is an international goal.
The Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board will vote this week to put forward a 2013 budget with no tax levy increase.
Minnesota officials have issued an air pollution health alert for the southern two-thirds of the state. They urge people who are sensitive to air pollution to take proper precautions.
The federal government plans to sell leases for wind farms off the coasts of Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Virginia, marking the first time it has sold competitive leases for wind energy on the outer continental shelf, officials said Friday.
Drought threatens to close Mississippi to barges
After months of drought, companies that ship grain and other goods down the Mississippi River are being haunted by a potential nightmare: If water levels fall too low, the nation's main inland waterway could become impassable to barges just as the harvest heads to market.
The drought has intensified over the past week across broad swaths of Minnesota.
A petition to conduct an environmental review on mineral lease sales has been rejected by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
Minn. pushed to better groundwater management
Minnesota needs to do a better job of managing its groundwater resources -- that was the consensus at a forum held Thursday by the non-profit group, Environmental Initiative.
Environmentalist McKibben on the "terrifying math" of climate change
Bill McKibben is using math as a tool of persuasion in his fight against climate change. The author, educator and environmentalist is in the Twin Cities for a stop on his "Do the Math" tour.