Dave Dempsey is one of the Great Lakes most credible, prolific writers and activists, and he thinks the Wisconsin DNR is treading on thin ice if it thinks it can approve a diversion of Lake Michigan water to New Berlin without the approval of all eight Great Lakes states.

As others, including then-Wisconsin Attorney General Peg Lautenschlater have pointed out, it's a matter of federal law.

Details here.

Murphy Oil Co. is looking for a financial partner to help expand the capacity of its refinery on Lake Superior in northern Wisconsin from 35,000 barrels a day to 235,000.

I examine some of the issues in an op-ed published in the Madison Capital Times.

The Great Lakes Need Protection, And We All Need A Stronger DNR

Clean Wisconsin staff attorney Melissa Malott raises important questions about Murphy Oil's intentions at its refinery on Lake Superior.

Will a six-fold expansion of refining planned there lead to more pollution of Lake Superior?

Given the company's pollution track record that Malott cites in her Wisconsin State Journal op-ed, the concerns are valid, and they need to be raised and addressed before Murphy Oil is allowed to turn Lake Superior into an industrial dump.

Clean Wisconsin is a Madison-based environmental organization.

Wednesday's collapse of the I-35W span in the Twin Cities underscores the need for a major change in the way federal and state transportation funds are spent.

The solution: Stop adding more highways and widened lanes, and instead aggressively maintain the facilities we have.

In our state, 1000 Friends of Wisconsin, and CASH - - Citizens Allied for Sane Highways, led by Story Hill neighborhood activists Gretchen Schuldt and Robert Trimmier - - have been making this case for years, but politicians and the highway lobby and the regional planning commission (SEWRPC) have been going in the opposite direction.