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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As climate threats grow, poor countries still aren't getting enough money to prepare
To adapt to the threats developing countries are facing from climate change, the United Nations says they'll need at least 10 times more money than the public funding they received in 2021.
A 'tropical disease' carried by sand flies is confirmed in a new country: the U.S.
Leishmaniasis, a disease spread by a parasite carried by sand flies, is generally considered a tropical disease. Now, thanks to climate change, new research finds it's endemic to the United States.
To control rabies in wildlife, the USDA drops vaccine treats from the sky
Every year, the USDA drops millions of oral rabies vaccines across fourteen states, mostly along the eastern seaboard. In urban and suburban areas, they use vehicles, but in rural areas, they drop the vaccines from planes.
Minnesota DNR gives Twin Metals green light to explore for minerals near Boundary Waters
Twin Metals, which has been blocked by the Biden administration in its efforts to build a $1.7 billion copper-nickel mine near Ely, Minn., now has the go-ahead to explore for minerals in the area owned by the state of Minnesota.
Southeast Minnesota struggles for common ground on nitrate pollution as health worries rise
In a petition filed in April, environmental groups asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to use its emergency powers under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act to intervene in what they call an “imminent and substantial endangerment to human health.”
How extreme weather in the U.S. may have affected the pumpkins you picked this year for Halloween
Some pumpkin farmers in the West, particularly wholesalers in places like Colorado and New Mexico, are feeling the pinching effects of drought. Farmers have had to rely on dwindling water for irrigation while battling wacky weather to get their crops planted on time.