Congress needs to push for climate action that will shift our country to stop relying on greenhouse gasses and invest in 100% renewable energy. This includes supporting working-class people and creating green jobs and infrastructure that will boost our economy, invests in working people, and create a more sustainable future. Photo credit: Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

The climate crisis is here and every day we face reminders of the dangers that it poses to humanity. The Green New Deal meets our grave climate challenges with equitable solutions to build a sustainable future for generations to come. While the impacts of climate change are being felt and seen by everyone, it's indisputable that Black, brown, and low income communities are hit first, and the hardest. The Green New Deal is a holistic vision and solution for the crisis we face. We must demand investments in our communities, divestment from the fossil fuel industry, and action now! Add your name now to tell Congress it's time to pass the Green New Deal. Source for image: Molly Crabapple. From the Green New Deal Arts: Signs of the Times project by 350.org

The Green New Deal for Cities would provide local governments the funding to create good-paying, union jobs repairing their infrastructure, improving water quality, reducing air pollution, cleaning up our nation's parks, creating new green spaces We need to give our local communities the funding and support to act to prevent even further environmental collapse. The Biden administration's Inflation Reduction Act is a great start, but the scale of the the climate crisis and the threats that it poses to the health, safety, and livelihoods of our communities demand that we go further to rapidly de-transition from fossil fuels to a green economy. Source for image: Growing Together by James McInvale (left), Breathing New Life Into America by Caitlin Alexander (center), The Green New Deal by Jordan Johnson (right). From the Green New Deal poster series by Creative Action Network.

National forests in the United States are essential and irreplaceable. They preserve precious habitat for a wide diversity of plants and animals, provide health and enjoyment to recreationalists, and play a key role in fighting climate change. But now the U.S. Forest Service is planning to allow carbon waste dumping in national forests. We can't allow the nation's forests to be used as a dumping ground for fossil fuel companies and other industrial polluters. Not only would carbon storage require the buildout of dangerous pipelines, injection wells and roads — it would also pose potentially deadly risks to people and wildlife. Carbon dioxide leaks are highly hazardous and can lead to suffocation and even death. We need to stop this dangerous proposal in its tracks. Tell the Forest Service to scrap its upcoming proposal to allow carbon waste dumping in U.S. forests.

As the climate crisis intensifies, so too will the impacts to all of Pennsylvania's communities, but especially to those that have been suffering disproportionately at the hands of polluting industries for generations. In fact, experts like Pennsylvania's Dr. Michael Mann have been warning us for years that conditions will only get worse, that there is no "new normal." And since what happens in Pennsylvania doesn't stay in Pennsylvania, our outsized contribution to the crisis will impact everyone. Nothing is going to improve without aggressive action by our state government. Nothing is going to make state government act without pressure from all of us.

This petition is to help keep our children, elderly, and property safe from by mindless and/or reckless drivers/motorists.

The summer heat will soon be here and farm workers and other outdoor workers desperately need a federal heat standard. The need is more urgent than ever, with the way the government has shifted to the right. In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis just signed a bill which bans local ordinances giving workers water and shade breaks. It also bans local governments from requiring that employers conduct heat- exposure training programs. It takes away protections for employees who report heat exposure issues and removes record-keeping requirements. The new law takes effect July 1. Texas - already first in work-related heat exposure deaths - passed a similar law last summer. The “Death Star Bill” limits local governments from establishing ordinances for mandatory water and shade breaks for outdoor workers. These state bills are examples of why all farm workers and outdoor workers desperately need federal heat protections. Heat risk is real. Climate change is happening and outdoor workers are more and more in danger every year. Extreme temperatures could make thousands of workers seriously ill – and even suffer heat stroke and die. Farm workers are as much as 35 times more likely to die from heat than any other civilian occupation. Only a handful of states – California, Oregon and Washington – have policies on farm work in extreme heat. This lack of regulations puts farm workers in an impossible situation where they are forced to choose between making a living and taking care of their health. Currently, OSHA is relying on the "general duty" clause that says the general duty of an employer is to provide safe working conditions. That's not enough. Instead, workers need enforceable protections and penalties – including criminal proceedings – so dangerous incidents never happen. The men, women and children working in our fields can't wait. A Department of Labor committee recommended OSHA pass permanent rules, but this can take years. Workers need immediate heat standards to be put in place – before more people die. Heat deaths are preventable tragedies. The prevention is nothing complicated: shade, cool water, rest, education and monitoring. Sign our petition today and demand OSHA enact immediate heat regulations!

The West County Road Ops Yard is an industrial operation that houses many large trucks and hazardous materials that are inconsistent with the surrounding residential communities. The development will require significant deforestation and destruction of the environment and the natural buffer between the communities and the landfill. It will cause additional traffic to an already heavily congested single lane road and creates a safety risk for the children's bus stop at the entrance to the community. The community was not consulted during the planning of the relocation and it has been hidden from the public view due to loopholes used by the county. The county needs to halt the relocation planned, and find a suitable location that does not negatively impact the community residents. A proposal was made and submitted to the county with little to no response on several of the issues outlined. To find out more information and see the proposal you can access the google drive linked here. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1nWtu3i8NY5NB7pXFsLh3vfiQOSI6wTxE?usp=sharing

Huff Park is one of the City of Grand Rapids' most biodiverse parks. It houses over 180 different species of birds as well as countless other animals. The rich biodiversity of the plants, wetlands and animals contribute to the significant need for natural "filters" for our environment to keep the human population healthy. Thousands of people and families each year enjoy the benefits of Huff Park from the ball fields to the boardwalk, plants and animals. An encroaching development of apartment complexes adjacent and backing up to Huff park will significantly negatively impact the biodiversity of the park. While the city wants to increase development growth, this reduces green spaces making the city less desirable for living. Preserving green spaces makes the city more desirable for living in the long run. There are other spaces that do not encroach on important wetlands that can be developed. The proposed multiple unit development adjacent and backing up to the Huff Park will also significantly increase traffic around the area and proposed parking spaces for these units have not been discussed. Please sign the petition to let the Grand Rapids Housing Commission and CNA know you want to keep the area surrounding Huff Park wild and undeveloped for both its plant and animal inhabitants and for humans to continue to enjoy for the benefit of all of Grand Rapids.

It’s important that this change happen because the death of my son destroyed me and my family and other families

This petition is for you if you live in Kalamazoo and like parks, trees, trails, clean air/water, frogs, fish, birds, native plants, and crazy interesting bugs that you might find under a big rock.

After interviewing more than three dozen BIPOC elders 50 to 80 years of age, we found most low and moderate-income elders are struggling desperately. Their living conditions, in public senior housing, assisted living, and not-quite-affordable market housing is very often deplorable: These are tiny living spaces, no storage, often dirty/stained, and with infestations (at no fault of their own), with poor air quality, and absolutely no green spaces. The health of these elders had become compromised, suffering from joint problems, asthma, hypertension, depression, anxiety, loneliness, despair, and at times, suicidal ideation. Not due so much to their age, but due to the deplorable living conditions, and lack of relationship or community. The above conditions can manifest as Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease, along with manifestations of physically terminal and debilitating illnesses. This should not be, and we want to remedy this forgotten population and create community, relationships, and healthy living environments for them. When Gov. Healey spoke about opening state-owned land to build affordable housing, the Grandmothers’ Village Project attempted to schedule a meeting with her. Twice she canceled the meeting and the third time she just didn’t bother to respond. Viewing her posts on social media, I often wondered if she will only meet with an organization if there is a press photo opportunity. If this is true, it’s very sad that she will not meet with her constituents without the photo op! What needs to happen: We need a new and vibrant method of building affordable housing in Massachusetts. This housing should be off-grid electrified using solar, hydrothermal or geothermal methods of energy. We know about the IRA (Inflation Reduction Act), the Biden Justice 40 Initiative, and other programs that are now available from the Federal government to afford the average, individual person a way to greenify and electrify their homes. This money is available for organizations and businesses as well. So, my question to Gov. Healey is this: Why not allow smaller organizations to build this desperately needed housing in a way that will never burden low-income folks financially. Nor will it cause illness through toxic building materials. Nor be so small that people are forced to downsize to a place of having nothing left that is meaningful to them. Gov. Healey cannot allow just the big developers to come in and build their status quo, cheap, toxic materialed housing where they pile as many people inside as possible. Their housing developments will be fossil-fueled creating a deeper burden financially for low and moderate-income residents. The Grandmothers’ Village Project would like to see all new housing built to be green and off the grid. We want to build it! We need your support! Please Sign this petition!