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.

Many of the world's leaders are in Copenhagen trying to hammer out ways to cut greenhouse gas emissions, but reducing emissions could change many aspects of everyday life in Minnesota. In a special report, MPR News examined some of those possible changes.
Rich nations slam climate draft, thousands protest
Industrial countries criticized a draft global warming pact Saturday for not making stronger demands on major developing countries as tens of thousands of banner-waving protesters demanding "climate justice" marched toward the U.N. conference.
EU commits $3.6 billion yearly to poor nations to fight global warming
EU leaders agreed Friday to commit euro2.4 billion ($3.6 billion) a year until 2012 to help poorer countries combat global warming, as they sought to rescue their image as climate change innovators and bolster talks in Copenhagen.
GAO: Northern Plains corn ethanol uses more water
Farmers in the Northern Plains use considerably more water to produce a gallon of corn ethanol than growers in other parts of the country, according to a new government report examining whether increased biofuels use could drain the nation's water resources.
MPR's Steven John talks with Rolf Nordstrom, executive director of the Minneapolis-based Great Plains Institute, about why the Midwest is so politically important to climate change policy. Nortstrom says Minnesota is well-poised to be a leader in creating and using sustainable energy. He's attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Some energy-intensive industries taking steps to go green
In the cap and trade legislation, any entity that emits large amounts of greenhouse gases would have to have a permit for each ton of gas it emits. That's got energy-intensive industries worried. But many of them have already been reducing their energy use.