October 6, 2009 - Our environment can have an enormous effect on our health. Air and water pollution have gotten most of the attention. But scientists and public health experts also see major health consequences associated with the "built environment." That's the environment we construct around ourselves -- our homes, churches, roads, and schools. The quality of these places can influence our health and even determine our lifespan. In public health circles, the built environment is considered one of the social determinants of health. These are factors that shape health but may be out of our own personal control. These social factors are also linked to significant health disparities between some racial groups. In the next installment of our series on social determinants of health, Stephanie Hemphill reports on new efforts to build neighborhoods that can actually improve the health of residents.
October 23, 2009 - The Minnesota DNR today (FRI) is expected to release its environmental study of a copper-nickel mine proposed for Northeastern Minnesota. The valuable minerals occur in a sulfide deposit, and sulfide mining elsewhere in the world has damaged water systems as the waste rock produces sulfuric acid. Betsy Daub (DAWB) is with the group Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness. She says it's unlikely the proposed Polymet mine would be any different.
October 23, 2009 - Plans are moving ahead for a copper-nickel mine in Northeastern Minnesota. The draft of an environmental review of the project is expected today (FRI). So-called sulfide mining has never been done in Minnesota, but in other parts of the world, similar mines are polluting rivers and lakes. Stephanie Hemphill reports on the mine and its possible impacts.
November 24, 2009 - MPR’s Tom Scheck reports that two members of Minnesota's congressional delegation urged the Legislature to repeal a law that prohibits the construction of nuclear power plants in the state. DFL Congressman Tim Walz and Republican Congressman Erik Paulsen say allowing new nuclear power plants would give Minnesota more energy options. Critics say the benefits of nuclear power are still in doubt.
December 11, 2009 - We talk with a guy from the Grantham Institute on why "adaptation" should be on the agenda in Copenhagen, and look into why "prostitution" is somehow on the agenda as well. Kermit the Frog stops by with a song about Iran, Sanden updates on the "discovery" of "dark matter" here in "Minnesota," and we hold our first annual Santa Round-Table.
January 28, 2010 - MPR’s Bob Kelleher reports that a deadly fish disease has been confirmed in Lake Superior. Researchers have identified the disease known as VHS in fish taken from four places in the lake, including the Duluth-Superior Harbor. It is not known yet if that means fish populations are at risk in the big lake.
February 22, 2010 - The federal Environmental Protection Agency says the proposed Polymet copper-nickel mine proposed for northeastern Minnesota should not go ahead as currently planned. The EPA listed more than two-dozen so-called inadequacies in the Minnesota DNR's draft environmental impact statement, or E-I-S. The DNR's Steve Colvin says the criticisms come in part because of a difference in approach by the two levels of government.
February 22, 2010 - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says the Minnesota DNR's environmental review of the Polymet mine proposed for northeastern Minnesota is inadequate. Stephanie Hemphill reports. {
February 23, 2010 - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says the Minnesota DNR's environmental review of the Polymet mine proposed for northeastern Minnesota is inadequate. Stephanie Hemphill reports.
March 9, 2010 - About seventy people came to the Capitol Monday to hear testimony on a proposed copper-nickel mine for Northeastern Minnesota. Polymet C-E-O Joe Scipioni said his company has already invested 100-million-dollars to plan for environmental protection. Critics said the state's environmental review is flawed. The federal Environmental Protection Agency says the study lacks critical information, and the project should not go forward as currently planned.