The woodlands next to Camp Ripley, part of a landscape area designated for protection from development, promise to provide a wealth of hiking, canoeing and other outdoor pursuits.
Without state money, University of Minnesota researchers have turned to an unusual source to finance the project: crowdfunding.
The state’s largest utilities are planning to phase out most of their coal-fired plants by the end of the decade.
Tim Nolte’s irrigation proposal has become a highly charged, if small, part of a larger and ongoing debate about corporate farming, growing methods and the future of family farms.
The study looked at nitrogen dioxide and fine particulate matter – types of pollution that can cause several health issues, including cardiovascular, respiratory and neurological illnesses.
From forests and farms to our own backyards, there’s a lot we can do to reduce future risks of pandemic outbreaks.
Since the coronavirus pandemic has shut down many other activities, parks in Minnesota have seen record numbers of visitors.
“It was nice to see that they gave us a lot to work with,” said Joseph Sullivan, the utilities commissioner who first floated the idea for sped-up projects in May. “They really stepped up.”
Over the past three years, the HCWP has garnered about 25 percent of the federal funds that have been granted to watershed agencies in Minnesota – money those groups use for drainage ditches, embankments, rain gardens and other projects designed to protect local waters.
MPUC Commissioner Joseph Sullivan challenged the state’s major energy companies to speed up the completion of projects that could put people to work.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has agreed to review concerns about its permit for the Enbridge Line 3 project after four groups and 16 individuals petitioned the agency for a “contested case hearing.”
The bill requires that any meeting at the Minnesota Capitol of the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council, which recommends millions in state spending on conservation projects, must be streamed live and archived online.
One bill poised to pass the Legislature would overhaul a program requiring utilities to slash energy each year; another would spend more than $60 million on clean energy projects.
Biden never addressed the Line 3 or Twin Metals projects during his presidential primary campaign, and he has continued to avoid taking a stand since becoming the likely Democratic nominee.
“There’s misapprehension among scientists and the public that natural ecosystems are the source of threats to ourselves. It’s a mistake,” said scientist Richard Ostfeld. “Nature poses threats, it is true, but it’s human activities that do the real damage.”
One of the world’s largest freshwater ports is facing a future with far less coal. And while that might be celebrated by environmentalists, it will also have economic impacts across the upper Midwest.
For those pushing for a carbon-free Duluth, the biggest roadblock may be a company that has long been critical to the region’s economy — and its identity: Minnesota Power.
Even as Great Lakes cities cope with economic turbulence, climate change brings new challenges and opportunities.
In Minnesota, droves of hog farmers have nowhere left to sell their pigs as plants shutter, forcing some farmers to consider an unfortunate last resort to ease their backlog of hogs: putting them down.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s decision speaks to the difficulty of grappling with complex regulation amid an unprecedented situation, but it also raises a larger question: How do government agencies balance legal deadlines and meaningful public input when the state is on lockdown?
