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.

Effort to lift nuclear ban still alive, but with restrictions
An effort in the Minnesota Legislature to lift the state's ban on new nuclear power plants is still alive, but restrictions placed within the legislation have made some wonder if anything would really change.
Proponents of a plan to rebuild the iconic green stairway on St. Paul's western bluffs say they're not giving up on the project. That's despite a U.S. attorney general's opinion that the steps would violate the federal law prohibiting discrimination against those with disabilities.
The Stickworker returns to Minnesota
Patrick Dougherty calls himself a 'stick worker.' He makes huge, twisting sculptures out of branches and other natural materials he finds at the site of each piece. This week, with the help of dozens of volunteers, he began construction on a work at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.
New testing for Asian carp in Great Lakes waterway
Illinois and federal officials announced plans Wednesday to again dump fish poison into a Chicago-area waterway to help them determine whether the invasive Asian carp has come any closer to the Great Lakes.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has added another six Minnesota counties and a tribal community to a spring flooding disaster declaration.
Technologies for oil spill cleanup
Experts are throwing everything they've got at the oil spill in Gulf of Mexico to mitigate the spread of oil to the gulf coast including: dispersants, skimmers, and booms. Midmorning discusses the technology behind oil cleanup and whether it will make a dent in this environmental disaster.
Finding homes for chimney swifts
There's one Minnesota bird that has an unusual habitat problem -- the chimney swift. As more homeowners put caps on their chimneys to keep out the rain and other critters, the swifts are losing places to inhabit and find food.