Can energy companies help Minnesota’s economy recover from the COVID pandemic?
MPUC Commissioner Joseph Sullivan challenged the state’s major energy companies to speed up the completion of projects that could put people to work.
Environment
Twenty petitions and 10,000 comments: A look at the public response to the Enbridge Line 3 water permit
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.”
Minnesota Legislature approves bill requiring video coverage of influential conservation council
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.
Pair of clean energy initiatives poised for passage by Minnesota Legislature
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.
What are Joe Biden’s views on two of the most controversial environmental projects in Minnesota?
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.
Destruction of habitat and loss of biodiversity are creating the perfect conditions for diseases like COVID-19 to emerge
“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.”
As energy use changes in the Great Lakes, so too does the Port of Duluth-Superior
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.
In the ‘climate refuge’ city of Duluth, a fight brews over the hometown utility
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.
From rust to resilience: What climate change means for Great Lakes cities
Even as Great Lakes cities cope with economic turbulence, climate change brings new challenges and opportunities.
‘An absolute tragedy’: COVID-19-related plant shutdowns could force hog farmers to kill and dispose of 200,000 pigs
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 MPCA delayed gathering public comments on a ‘Clean Cars’ rule because of COVID-19. Why not Line 3?
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?
For now, you can still go for a walk in the woods, says Minnesota DNR
The DNR said Monday it will keep its parks, recreation areas, campgrounds and other public lands open for the time being.
The battle over ‘wakesurfing’ has made its way to the Minnesota Legislature
A contingent of homeowners and environmental advocates say a proposal to keep wakesurfing 200 feet from shore, docks, and swimmers in Minnesota won’t be effective.
Why CenterPoint Energy is pushing to test ‘renewable’ natural gas. And why some environmental groups are so skeptical of it.
As environmentalists call to replace the fossil fuel with electricity in buildings, CenterPoint Energy, the largest gas utility operating in Minnesota, has been pushing to test “renewable natural gas” (RNG) and other alternative fuels to bring down emissions.
Animals large and small once covered North America’s prairies – and in some places, they could again
Scientists know surprisingly little about today’s remnant biodiversity in the grasslands – especially the status of what we call “big small mammals,” such as badgers, foxes, jackrabbits and porcupines.
Why Greater Minnesota lawmakers aren’t thrilled about the state’s new ‘Clean Cars’ rules
Skeptical lawmakers in both parties ripped the proposal as misguided, particularly for rural Minnesota.
Coal play: How lawmakers want to encourage seasonally cutting coal use in Minnesota
The measure, deemed the “coal holiday bill,” got its first hearing in a Minnesota House committee on Tuesday.
Some of Minnesota’s most important conservation hearings aren’t videotaped. Lawmakers are trying to change that.
“There’s a different level of accountability when someone can see a video of you,” said state Rep. Jamie Becker-Finn, a Roseville DFLer who sits on the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council.
Can we protect nature by giving it legal rights?
Around the world, communities are using “Rights of Nature” laws to defend waterways, species and more from human threats.
Here’s how much Minnesota has paid out for wolf kills of livestock over the last two decades
Endangered species protections means wolves generally can’t be killed unless they are threatening human life.
