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.

More deaths reported in intense Northwest heat wave
About a dozen deaths in Washington and Oregon may be tied to an intense heat wave that brought scorching temperatures to the Northwest and has caused one power utility to impose rolling blackouts amid heavy demand.
Unprecedented Northwest heat wave builds, records fall
Portland, Oregon, reached 112 degrees on Sunday, breaking the all-time temperature record of 108 F, which was set just a day earlier. In British Columbia, the village of Lytton reached 115 F — a new all-time record high for Canada.
Heat brings more reports of dead fish in Minnesota lakes
It's not uncommon for the DNR to get reports of large numbers of dead fish floating in Minnesota lakes in spring and summer. But fish die-offs have been more frequent and widespread than usual, as temperatures soared to record highs in June across much of Minnesota.
SpaceX's new rocket facility is making its Texas neighbors mad
When SpaceX opened its rocket factory and launch pad in South Texas, few locals thought it would morph into such a large operation. Now environmentalists are worried about the long-term effects.
Portland records hottest day ever amid Pacific Northwest heat wave
Portland, Oregon, had its hottest day ever recorded — reaching 108 degrees Fahrenheit on Saturday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service. Seattle reached 101 F, making it the hottest June day on record in that city.
Yellow crazy ants, an enemy to seabirds, have been wiped out on a remote Pacific atoll
After more than a decade, the terrorizing reign of the yellow crazy ant is over on the Johnston Atoll National Wildlife Refuge. The invasive insect had been threatening ground-nesting seabirds on the Pacific atoll since at least 2010.
Congress votes to reinstate methane rules loosened by Trump
Congressional Democrats have approved a measure reinstating rules aimed at limiting climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions from oil and gas drilling, a rare effort by Democrats to use the legislative branch to overturn a regulatory rollback under President Donald Trump.
Xcel Energy changes course, new plan does not include Becker gas plant
Bowing to calls to speed up its transition away from fossil fuels, Xcel Energy is proposing a new energy plan for the next 15 years that does not include building a controversial new natural gas plant in Becker.