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.

Trial begins for North Dakota’s effort to recoup costs of policing Dakota Access pipeline protests
The state filed the lawsuit in 2019, seeking $38 million from the federal government for policing the protests. The bench trial before U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Traynor is expected to last 12 to 13 days.
How Hollywood art directors are working to keep their sets out of the landfill
Sets are often discarded after productions, with thousands of tons of materials going into dumpsters each year. Now art directors and their allies are pushing for a more sustainable approach.
Wreck of ship that sank in 1940 found in Lake Superior
Shipwreck hunters have discovered a merchant ship that sank in Lake Superior in 1940, taking its captain with it, during a storm off Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
Despite record warmth and no snowfall, the world’s fastest cross-country skiers are still coming to Minneapolis
Despite a historically warm winter and hardly any natural snowfall, organizers of the first World Cup cross-country ski race to be held in the U.S. in more than 20 years are moving ahead with the race scheduled for Theodore Wirth Park in Minneapolis next weekend.
Enbridge appeals to vacate an order that would shut down its pipeline
The Tribe fears the aging pipeline could rupture. Enbridge’s attorney told a three-judge federal appellate panel Thursday that Conley lacked authority to issue such an order. Bad River’s attorney is calling for an immediate shutdown to protect the environment.
Wintering monarch butterfly population hit hard by drought
The overwintering population of monarch butterflies in Mexico is at the lowest point in a decade, according to the results of an annual population survey. The butterflies overwinter in Mexico before migrating north, arriving in Minnesota by May.