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.

This soil is slowly burning, releasing CO2. The solution? Let water reclaim it
Peatlands, formed by ancient wetlands, store more carbon than the world's forests. But when they're drained for farming, they vent heat-trapping carbon dioxide into the air.
Wisconsin agency issues first round of permits for Enbridge Line 5 reroute around reservation
About 12 miles of Enbridge's Line 5 pipeline runs through the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa's reservation. Bad River tribal officials warned that the project calls for blasting, drilling and digging trenches that would devastate area wetlands and streams and endanger the tribe's wild rice beds.
Pakistan's smog is visible from space. This activist is 'frustrated' but won't give up
The government in Lahore has closed schools and public spaces and shut down factories. Environmental lawyer Ahmad Rafay Alam shares his perspective: "frustrated" but still fighting.
Will Trump’s election slow the shift to clean energy? Two policy experts weigh in
Last week’s election could have major impacts on U.S. efforts to shift to cleaner energy and curb climate change. President-elect Donald Trump has called climate change a hoax, and pledged support for fossil fuels. He’s also promised to roll back many of the climate initiatives launched under the Biden-Harris administration.
Trump election could reopen path for mining near Boundary Waters
President-elect Donald Trump has promised to reverse the Biden administration’s actions blocking copper-nickel mining near the Boundary Waters. But there is a lot that would need to happen before any mine could open.
Fire crews on both U.S. coasts battle wildfires
Fire crews are battling small wildfires across the Northeast U.S. A blaze in New York and New Jersey killed a parks employee over the weekend and postponed Veterans Day plans. A quarter-inch of rain fell overnight from Sunday into Monday, giving a slight respite to firefighters. 
You might beat back phragmites, the scourge of wetlands, but then what?
Wetlands managers have spent years using fire and chemicals to fight phragmites, an invasive reed that chokes everything else out. But coaxing beneficial native plants to move back in is difficult.
25 of 43 monkeys have been recovered after escaping a lab in South Carolina last week
A research facility in Yemassee, S.C., has recovered 25 of the 43 monkeys that escaped from the laboratory last week after a caretaker accidentally left the door to their enclosure unsecured.