New data centers are popping up across the country — and companies are eyeing Minnesota as a potential building site due to its cooler climate.

But advocates within the state worry the extra demand from these large buildings could push the state to extend its use of fossil fuels at a time when Minnesota is trying to go carbon-free. 

MPR News correspondent Kirsti Marohn has been following the story of a Colorado-based company’s proposed $5 billion data center in Farmington, Minnesota, as part of MPR’s Getting to Green series.

She spoke with MPR Chief Meteorologist Paul Huttner about growing opposition from residents in the rural town.

President-elect Donald Trump is making cabinet choices that will likely impact U.S. climate policy. Observers of the picks point out ties to the fossil fuel industry.

Kiley Price with Inside Climate News spoke to MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner about the picks and what it could mean for the future of climate policy.

To hear the full conversation, click play on the audio player above or subscribe to the Climate Cast podcast.

From data centers to growth — electricity demand in Minnesota is rising.

That’s led Xcel Energy to request a 13 percent rate increase over the next two years and increase capital spending by $11 billion.

Walker Orenstein, reporter at the Minnesota Star Tribune, said the utility has plans to make major infrastructure investments.

While it’s unclear just how snowy this winter will be, NOAA data shows that Minnesota winters have warmed more than five degrees on average since 1970. Warmer winters may cause more freeze-thaw cycles and increased road salt use. State maintenance engineer Jed Falgren spoke to MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner about what MnDOT is doing to maximize road safety in a changing climate.

Last winter was the warmest on record in Minnesota — a perfect non-storm of conditions that included a strong El Niño combined with warming climate trends. But this year will be different thanks to a weak La Niña developing in the Pacific, said Kenny Blumenfeld, who tracks Minnesota's climate trends with the Minnesota State Climatologist office in St. Paul.

“People are going to love or hate this,” Blumenfeld said. “Our all-time record and seasonal snowfall was during a La Niña winter. And number three, which we just experienced in the 2022-’23 winter, that was 90.3 inches. That was a La Niña, too. You do tend to get a bit more snow, even in a weak La Niña compared to an El Niño type winter.”

The warming of the atmosphere plays a role in extra-snowy winters, Blumenfeld told MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner. ”The warming of the planet obviously puts more water into the atmosphere, and that's one of the reasons that we're seeing the increased snowfall during the winter time.”

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Minnesota is experiencing its fourth straight year of flash drought — and farmers are feeling the effects in their fields.

“Farmers and ranchers face unique challenges in a changing climate and experience climate related stress,” said Noah Fish, an agricultural reporter for Agweek.

“It’s not only their operations that are undergoing this change, but it’s emotional stress; these are farmers that are the ones out there working every day in these conditions.”

But grants offer relief, Fish said. The state of Minnesota is using federal grants to help farmers adapt to expanding droughts and a changing climates. Fish joined MPR News meteorologist Paul Huttner to talk about the kind of funding that is available to farmers and how it is helping.

To hear the full conversation, click play on the audio player above or subscribe to the Climate Cast podcast.

Finding balance in life can be a challenge for everyone.

It can be especially hard to balance a life in climate work, politics and raising a family. That’s been Anna Farro Henderson’s experience, one she details in her new book “Core Samples: A Climate Scientist’s Experiments in Politics and Motherhood.”

Farro Henderson joins MPR News Meteorologist Paul Huttner to talk about the climate crisis and encouraging young women to enter the STEM field.   

To hear the full conversation, click play on the audio player above or subscribe to the Climate Cast podcast.

Minnesota’s climate continues to shift. The trend toward warmer winters and more erratic precipitation patterns continues.

“What we see globally and what we see right in our own backyards are the fingerprints of a warming world,” Heidi Roop, the Director of Minnesota’s Climate Adaptation Partnership, said.

She added that we should expect these extremes to continue.

“If we look out towards the end of the century, some of our future climate models show that our spring-time precipitation could be as much as 40 percent wetter and our summers around 20 percent dryer.”

She spoke more about Minnesota’s climate trends with MPR News Chief Meteorologist Paul Huttner.

Climate advocates are showing strong support for Gov. Tim Walz’s vice presidential campaign. They point to his record.

“Walz was responsible, or at least, signed into law several climate action bills that are progressive no matter which state you live in,” said Kristoffer Tigue, who wrote about Walz’s climate record for Inside Climate News. “That includes a law from 2023 which requires Minnesota utilities to produce 100 percent of their electricity from carbon free sources by 2040. He also signed several other bills that do a lot to advance the effort to slow down climate change.” 

Tigue joined MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner to talk about Walz’s record in Minnesota and what that might mean for the Harris-Walz ticket.

“A lot of advocates and political analysts believe that the Harris-Walz ticket will probably walk a line that’s similar to what Biden has been doing in his last couple of years as president, which is taking kind of a moderate approach, trying to appeal to a broader audience, rather than appeasing a smaller, more progressive climate constituency,” Tigue said.

But there’s not a lot to go on.

“Both Walz and Harris have largely refrained from talking about climate change since announcing their campaign together, but in the debate with former President Trump earlier this month, Harris did address climate change, and the two have since released a platform, though the details on policy are still pretty slim,” she said.

To hear the full conversation, click play on the audio player above or subscribe to the Climate Cast podcast.

A new report from the Global Carbon Project finds several sources of methane gas are on the rise.

Sahrah Kaplan, climate and science reporter for the Washington Post says the powerful greenhouse gas is “the fastest way to heat the planet and we’re doing that at an ever accelerating rate.”

Kaplan wrote about the Global Carbon Project report and joined Climate Cast to explain how agriculture as well as human influence are contributing to the rise in this potent greenhouse gas. 

To hear the full conversation, click play on the audio player above or subscribe to the Climate Cast podcast.