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Chloe Johnson

Environmental Reporter
Environment
A graduate of American University in Washington, D.C., Johnson joined the Minnesota Star Tribune in 2022. She has completed the Metcalf Institute's Science Immersion Workshop for Journalists, and is a member of the Society of Environmental Journalists. Johnson previously covered the environment at the Charleston Post and Courier in South Carolina, where her work was honored as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.

Contact

EMAIL
chloe.johnson@startribune.com

Latest from Chloe Johnson

Environment

Minnesota nickel mine that would supply Tesla shelves its unusual excavation method

Talon Metals, which is trying to mine nickel near Tamarack, Minn., says it will dig a simpler path to the ore it wants to extract.
December 20, 2024
A worker shows a core sample, in search of nickel, at Talon Metals' proposed Tamarack Mine.
Environment

EPA investigating taconite mine for pollution that threatens wild rice

The U.S. Steel site in northern Minnesota had previously asked for an exception to the standard the company is now accused of violating.
December 19, 2024
Environment

Environmental group calls for tighter water permit for coal plant that spilled next to rice beds

Minnesota Power’s Boswell Energy Center is allowed to pump sulfate-tainted wastewater into the Mississippi River. The state says its new permit will protect wild rice.
December 10, 2024
Environment

Minnesota homeowners are discovering they have lead pipes. Here’s what they can do.

Discovering that you have a lead or galvanized steel service line doesn’t always mean your health is at risk.
December 4, 2024
Outdoors

Some Minnesota honeybees disappeared this fall. Blame mites and a warm autumn.

One Orono apiarist said a whole hive vanished a week ago, leaving only honey behind. Other keepers have reported the same problem.
November 21, 2024
This photo taken Thursday, July 23, 2015, at a farm in Lakeville, Minn., shows honey bees at a bee hive. Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton has issued an executive order restricting uses of neonicotinoid pesticides to reverse the decline of bee and other pollinator populations. Dayton made the announcement Friday, Aug. 26, 2016, at the Minnesota State Fair, joined by state agency heads and legislative leaders. He points out that pollinators are crucial to the state's $90 billion agricultural sector, but
Environment

RFK Jr. says fluoride ‘is on its way out.’ Here’s why Minnesota uses it, and what the risks are.

Fluoride has been shown repeatedly to lower dental costs, tooth decay and the risk of serious dental complications. But research shows high levels of the chemical can harm a child’s IQ.
November 12, 2024
Elections

What Trump's victory means for proposed mines near the BWCA in northern Minnesota

Removing a federal ban on mining near the BWCA will be one of Trump's first priorities, he said this summer.
November 7, 2024
Rising above the treeline (Top of this photo), on the shore of Birch Lake, the Twin Metals Copper Nickel Mine Plant site and Tailings Management site is part of the proposed plan. ] In theory, the copper-nickel mine Twin Metals wants to build in the headwaters of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is a zero-discharge mine -- a closed loop that will endlessly recycle millions of gallons of water, including rainwater and the polluted process water it uses to extract ore and
Environment

Check this Minnesota map to find out if your home’s drinking water comes through a lead pipe

A new online tool for Minnesota is part of federal and state goals to get the lead out of plumbing by the mid-2030s.
November 5, 2024
In this Wednesday, March 9, 2016 photo, city officials display an example of the lead pipes in Galesburg, Ill. An Associated Press analysis of federal data shows that nearly 1,400 water systems serving millions of Americans have exceeded the federal lead standard at least once during the last three years. In Galesburg, Ill., lead levels have exceeded the federal standard in 22 out of 30 testing periods since 1992.
Outdoors

Some Minnesota honeybees disappeared this fall. Blame mites and a warm autumn.

One Orono apiarist said a whole hive vanished a week ago, leaving only honey behind. Other keepers have reported the same problem.
November 21, 2024
This photo taken Thursday, July 23, 2015, at a farm in Lakeville, Minn., shows honey bees at a bee hive. Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton has issued an executive order restricting uses of neonicotinoid pesticides to reverse the decline of bee and other pollinator populations. Dayton made the announcement Friday, Aug. 26, 2016, at the Minnesota State Fair, joined by state agency heads and legislative leaders. He points out that pollinators are crucial to the state's $90 billion agricultural sector, but
Environment

RFK Jr. says fluoride ‘is on its way out.’ Here’s why Minnesota uses it, and what the risks are.

Fluoride has been shown repeatedly to lower dental costs, tooth decay and the risk of serious dental complications. But research shows high levels of the chemical can harm a child’s IQ.
November 12, 2024
Elections

What Trump's victory means for proposed mines near the BWCA in northern Minnesota

Removing a federal ban on mining near the BWCA will be one of Trump's first priorities, he said this summer.
November 7, 2024
Rising above the treeline (Top of this photo), on the shore of Birch Lake, the Twin Metals Copper Nickel Mine Plant site and Tailings Management site is part of the proposed plan. ] In theory, the copper-nickel mine Twin Metals wants to build in the headwaters of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is a zero-discharge mine -- a closed loop that will endlessly recycle millions of gallons of water, including rainwater and the polluted process water it uses to extract ore and
Environment

Check this Minnesota map to find out if your home’s drinking water comes through a lead pipe

A new online tool for Minnesota is part of federal and state goals to get the lead out of plumbing by the mid-2030s.
November 5, 2024
In this Wednesday, March 9, 2016 photo, city officials display an example of the lead pipes in Galesburg, Ill. An Associated Press analysis of federal data shows that nearly 1,400 water systems serving millions of Americans have exceeded the federal lead standard at least once during the last three years. In Galesburg, Ill., lead levels have exceeded the federal standard in 22 out of 30 testing periods since 1992.
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