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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Line 3 pipeline opponents appeal to Minnesota Supreme Court
Tribal and environmental groups opposed to Enbridge Energy’s Line 3 oil pipeline have asked the Minnesota Supreme Court to overturn a lower court decision affirming the approvals of the project. The state Commerce Department, which was part of the earlier appeal, is not joining in the appeal this time.
Senate Democrats' $3.5T budget deal backs up Biden's goals
Senate Democrats say they have reached a budget agreement that envisions spending an enormous $3.5 trillion over the coming decade, paving the way for their drive to pour federal resources into climate change, health care and family service programs sought by President Joe Biden.
State regulators investigate release of drilling fluid into Willow River during Line 3 construction
About 80 to 100 gallons of drilling fluid, or mud, were inadvertently released on July 6 at a construction site near the town of Palisade, Minn., according to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.
Your trash is emitting methane in the landfill. Here's why it matters for the climate
Landfills are among the nation's largest sources of methane, a greenhouse gas far more potent than carbon dioxide. But accurately measuring methane is a major challenge to reducing it.
Funky fish: Gar garners protections from Minnesota lawmakers
The long, slender, toothy and prehistoric-looking fish will, for the first time ever in the state, be protected in ways similar to other gamefish, the result of a bit of an outcry on social media following a series of mass killings that some saw as wantonly wasteful.
Endangered butterfly gaining momentum in North Dakota
The Dakota skipper was listed as threatened in 2014, meaning it's on the verge of becoming endangered. Habitat loss has depleted the species' population over the past few decades, limiting it to the prairies of North Dakota and select parts of neighboring states and Canadian provinces.