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.

Submit a question or story for Getting to Green here.

Climate Cast

Listen to Climate Cast, the MPR News podcast all about our changing climate and its impact in Minnesota and worldwide.

Rapidan Dam partial failure sent more than a century’s worth of sediment pollution downstream
Rapidan Dam’s partial failure sent an estimated 11.6 million cubic yards of sediment downstream. Experts are worried about its ecological impacts and say it could take years to fully understand them.
Cats on leashes ... yes, it’s a thing
For some cats, leashed walks “can certainly create environmental enrichment, get them some more exercise,” says veterinarian Grace Cater. Other cats? Not so much.
As heat waves intensify, more public housing residents may get help with AC bills
For decades, public housing providers could subsidize heating bills but not air-conditioning. New Biden administration guidance changes that, but critics say it doesn’t go far enough.
To save spotted owls, officials plan to kill a half-million of another owl species
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service strategy is meant to prop up declining spotted owl populations in Oregon, Washington and California by killing barred owls that have encroached into their territory.
Don Wyse remembered as early champion of sustainable agriculture research in Minnesota
University of Minnesota professor Don Wyse, a proponent of sustainable agricultural practices, died Tuesday. Wyse co-founded the Forever Green Initiative, a project to research new, more sustainable crops for Minnesota farmers.
20-year-old loops Lake Superior solo in 42 days, buoyed by climate change awareness
A triple science major at the College of St. Scholastica may be both the fastest and youngest to circumnavigate Lake Superior in a kayak — and he’s hoping the 1,000-mile trip will draw more attention to climate change’s effects in Minnesota.
GM will pay $146M in federal penalties because 5.9 million old vehicles emit excess carbon dioxide
General Motors will pay nearly $146 million in penalties to the federal government because 5.9 million of its older vehicles don’t comply with emissions and fuel economy standards.