February 13, 2009 - The Pawlenty administration says Minnesota is on track to meet its ambitious goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Officials reported to a legislative committee Thursday, as required by state law. Some legislators aren't so sure emissions are improving, and they said the governor should be providing more leadership. Minnesota Public Radio's Stephanie Hemphill reports.
May 6, 2009 - MPR’s Stephanie Hemphill reports on some Indian activists that will fight a planned oil pipeline that would cross the Leech Lake Reservation in northern Minnesota. Segment includes clip of commentary from Native American environmentalist Winonna LaDuke.
May 14, 2009 - MPR’s Stephanie Hemphill reports that critics of Minnesota's new ballast water permit system will argue in court that the system doesn't do enough to protect Lake Superior from invasive species. They say with a deadly fish virus infesting every Great Lake except Lake Superior, the state needs to act more quickly and more effectively.
July 2, 2009 - MPR’s Stepanie Hemphil visits the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness to see the landscape a decade after devasting blowdown. Ten years after millions of trees blew down in Minnesota's pristine Boundary Waters Wilderness, the forest is in the midst of a comeback. Segment includes recollections from guide who experienced storm first hand.
July 2, 2009 - It's been ten years since the dramatic blowdown in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, and the forest is recovering.
July 31, 2009 - MPR’s Brandt Williams visits the Metrodome for Minnesota Twins batting practice to get a closer look at the bat…or more specifically, the wood of the bat. Traditionally, Major League Baseball bats have been made from white ash, but increasingly organizations are using maple as well. Use of white ash bats are at risk with the spread of emerald ash borer, a green buprestid or jewel beetle native to north-eastern Asia that feeds on ash species.
August 19, 2009 - MPR’s Stephanie Hemphill reports that Minnesota, and other states, are mobilizing to clean up the air in supposedly pristine areas like the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and Voyageurs National Park.
August 20, 2009 - MPR’s Stephanie Hemphill reports on a plan developed by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency which aims to reduce haze in the Boundary Waters Wilderness and Voyageurs National Park.
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.