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.

Mining on the edge of the Boundary Waters
Six mining companies are doing exploration work that could lead to mines near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, and that's got a lot of people concerned.
Richfield: Hearing nature in the city
Above the din of cars and planes, the red-winged blackbird sings loud and clear at the Wood Lake Nature Center.
Forty years later, one wetland is still roadless
Wetland restoration and creation is now strict policy in Minnesota when state and local agencies wish to build roads. However, 40 years ago wetlands were often destroyed by construction, and it took a Minnesota Supreme Court case to change that.
Bill McKibben on global warming
Environmental activist Bill McKibben warned of the dangers of global warming 20 years ago. His latest book takes an angrier edge as he urges a change in our lifestyles or risk living in an inhospitable world.
Science of cleaning oil from ocean marshes
Booms, manmade sand banks and flushing fresh water into the Gulf are some of the options for attempting to restore the coastal environment after the oil has seeped in. Scientists are debating the best ways to clean without doing more damage.
Farmers and scientists in both Canada and the United States are trying to figure out ways to cut the amount of phosphorus that flows north to Lake Winnipeg. The Red River basin drains a large area in Minnesota and North and South Dakota, an area with abundant farming activity.