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.

What’s carbon-free? Utility regulators to decide what qualifies under state’s clean energy law
When state lawmakers approved a bill last year requiring utilities to produce all their electricity from carbon-free sources by 2040, they didn’t specify what qualifies as carbon-free. Now the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission will decide. That in turn could shape the future of technologies such as biomass and carbon capture in Minnesota.
The slowest of trailblazers: Better DNA testing means trafficked turtles can go home
New technology is making it easier to find the origins of trafficked wildlife so they can be released back to the habitat they came from, instead of languishing for decades as sometimes happens.
In 100 days, Minnesota plans to be free of ‘forever chemicals.’ Some businesses already are
It’s the most restrictive ban on these harmful chemicals in the nation and state experts say local companies are already starting to get into compliance. The chemicals are used in a variety of products like cookware, cosmetics and carpets. 
EVs are cleaner than gas cars, but a growing share of Americans don't believe it
Electric vehicles are caught up in the culture wars. Data from Ipsos shows the percentage of Americans who believe EVs are better for the environment than gas cars has dropped 5 points since 2022.
To grow Minnesota’s future forests, an effort to collect seeds takes root
There’s a surge of interest to plant millions more trees in Minnesota, but there’s a problem — there aren’t nearly enough seeds to plant those trees. Work is underway to change that.
Money for cutting-edge climate technology could dry up in a second Trump term
A hydrogen plant in Utah could offer a new path to slash fossil-fuel pollution. But federal funding that was critical for projects like this one could dry up if Donald Trump is reelected.