How many of you have children with asthma, eczema, allergies, autism, an auto-immune disease, cancer, etc.? We do too. Pesticide use is linked to all of these things. We are extremely concerned about the spraying of pesticides in our cities, especially our public areas, and we want it to stop!

Do not allow yourselves to be bullied by the NRA's potential support for continuing the Gun Range. The Park District has allowed operation for over fifty years of an outdoor Gun Range in Anthony Chabot Regional Park—which is otherwise made up of over five square miles of hills and streams, open space and wildlife habitat, trails and campsites. The park provides an experience of nature to the masses of people living near San Francisco Bay—except for the thousands of gunshots each week which shatter the peace and quiet. And the park is prime watershed for drinking water from Lake Chabot, except for lead pollution in the runoff water from the gun range, which far exceeds current standards. Dramatic population growth in the San Francisco area in the last fifty years and the central location of this regional park have led thousands of people to it, seeking an experience of nature. They are often cheated out of that experience by the explosive sound of constant gunfire. The Gun Club has known for several years that the tolerance for their lead pollution in the stormwater runoff has been reduced, yet they only attempted to come up with a plan a few weeks ago, after Park District Directors made it perfectly clear that they weren’t going to get a secret, sweetheart deal from their cronies on Park District staff. The Gun Club has refused to come to grips with their noise pollution’s effect on other would-be users of the park, many of whom can’t use the park’s trails and campground because the gunshots remind them of war and killing, and the effect on the park’s neighbors, who can’t use their yards because they sound like a war zone, especially on weekends. Live up to the Park District’s Mission Statement, which says you will provide open space, parks, trails, safe and healthful recreation and environmental education. Let the 15-plus other gun ranges in the San Francisco area meet the need for gun training and practice. Restore this park to the thousands of hikers, horse and bicycle riders, campers and other nature lovers, who need it as a place to experience nature, to maintain their quality of life and their sanity–end the Gun Range operation. Park lovers, come to the hearing before the Park District’s Board of Directors starting at 2:00 pm sharp on Tuesday, March 1, 2016, in the meeting room at Redwood Canyon Golf Course (formerly Willow Park Golf Course), 17007 Redwood Road, Castro Valley, 2.6 miles north of Castro Valley BART station and the I-580 freeway. Speak up, or not -– just showing up makes a statement. Come early–-we know there are more of you than there are gun lovers (who will be there by the dozen), but it’s showdown time–we’ve got to show up, so the Directors know we’ve got their backs if the NRA comes after them.

Toxic coal ash waste -- a byproduct of burning coal that can contain arsenic, mercury, lead and other heavy metals -- is the last thing we need in our rivers. Yet, in January 2016, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and State Water Control Board approved two highly controversial permits that allow Dominion Virginia Power to dump a total of 550 million gallons of coal ash wastewater into the Potomac and James Rivers. Virginians rely on these waterways for drinking water, recreation, and their livelihoods. These permits have raised so many alarm bells that multiple riverkeeper groups, the Prince William County of Board of Supervisors, and even the Republican Governor of Maryland are planning legal challenges. But it gets worse. Just a few weeks later, news broke that Dominion has already dumped 33.7 million gallons of untreated wastewater -- equal to 51 Olympic-sized swimming pools -- into Quantico Creek, a tributary of the Potomac River. This happened in May of 2015, eight months before the Water Control Board issued the permits. For months, Dominion and the director of DEQ, David Paylor, had denied that any waste had already been dumped. Now they’re admitting it happened, but claiming it was all legal. In response, our friends at the Potomac Riverkeeper Network have called on the Environmental Protection Agency to launch a criminal investigation. It’s time for Governor McAuliffe to step in. He must demand that his DEQ Director, David Paylor, and Water Control Board Chair Robert Dunn rescind Dominion’s permits until a full investigation is complete.

As a man who personally saw the african savanna and her beautiful wildlife I beg you to do as much as you can to save as much as possible of it.

Taking beeswax, necessarily, harms the bees that it is taken from. Many bees and their young die when beeswax and honey are stolen from their hives for human consumption. Please consider that bees do not willingly give their honey to humans. Instead, humans must subjugate, manipulate, control, and oftentimes trick the bees to be able to take their honey.  Bees are clever animals and will defend their hives when their wax and honey are stolen. Bee keepers will often kill aggressive, non-conforming, queen bees and replace them with more docile queens. Sometimes, after humans repeatedly steal a colonies' wax and honey, certain queen bees will move their hives. Because of this, it is a common practice for bee keepers to cut off the wings of queen bees so that they cannot move their hives.  Please carefully review the following website for more information about why beeswax and honey are not vegan: http://www.vegetus.org/honey/honey.htm  Also, please realize that when Dr. Bronner's takes wax and honey from bees, you are taking both building materials and food that the bees worked very hard to get. Their wax is used to store larva, propolis, and honey. The wax and honey taken from the bees would have been used as food and shelter during times of need. Many larva die during the harvesting of beeswax. As part of the collection process, the colonies of bees lose their homes, food stores, and many lives.  We know that Dr. Bronner's is a company that acts ethically and, therefore, we request that you continue to adhere to the vegan belief that ALL sentient life is sacred and exploitation by humans should be avoided.  We understand that you are using a formula created by Native American Keewaydinoquay and Sue Kastensen and that the beeswax being used is organic and from wild bees in Zambia. We also appreciate that you have gone to some effort to make a quality product with thought and attention to detail. However, for the reasons listed above, your lip balm is not vegan, it does cause the bees harm, and therefore does not align with your principles nor the vegan ethic.  Therefore, we, the petition signers, request that you find a plant-based (vegan) replacement to beeswax and pursue Vegan Certification for your lip balms and all other products.  Resources:  1. Why Honey Is Not Vegan: http://www.vegetus.org/honey/honey.htm  2. Bee Larva Dying During Wax Harvest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CT2sKFfCgq0  3. Vegan Certification: http://vegan.org/vegan-certifications/  4. Dr. Bronner's Lip Balm Containing Beeswax: https://www.drbronner.com/DBMS/LIPANDBODYBALM/SD0202.html  5. PETA's - What's Wrong With Beeswax: http://www.peta.org/about-peta/faq/whats-wrong-with-beeswax/  6. PETA's - The Honey Industry: http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-food/animals-used-food-factsheets/honey-factory-farmed-bees/

The goal of this petition is to stop the garbage left by visitors from going into the ocean on Main Beach. Allowing the garbage to go into the ocean affects the lives of marine animals and destroys the health of the ocean. Currently, there is no enforcement on Main Beach of Municipal or State Codes, creating an overall lack of respect.

The FDA does not require mandatory safety testing of genetically engineered foods, but instead allows GMO makers to decide on their own whether their foods are safe for American men, women and children to eat. We need the ability to track the emergence of unusual food allergies and other health problems that may be brought on by genetically engineered foods. We urge Congress to vote against H.R. 1599, better known as the DARK Act ("Deny Americans the Right to Know"). Vote for MANDATORY plain English labels on GMO foods instead.

Endorsement Update: The Eastside Portland Air Coalition (EPAC) http://www.eastportlandair.org/ would like to endorse this petition in the interest of getting our message to DEQ and the State as quickly and efficiently as possible. Let’s show Salem how strong our voices are together and send them the message, “WE WANT CLEAN AIR NOW” On February 3rd, 2016, we woke up to alarming news that the carcinogenic heavy metals Cadmium and Arsenic had been detected at high concentrations in our moss, soil and in the air in SE Portland. The story has continued to unfold and only gets worse from there. More heavy metals in new locations all over Portland have now been identified, and the amount of Portlanders affected continues to grow. This is just the tip of the iceberg, and it should not have been a surprise to anyone. Portland has been polluted for quite a long while. Like many, we chose one of Portland's idyllic inner neighborhoods to buy our home and raise our family of three boys, ages 7, 5 and 10 months. Sadly, we had no idea that the air around us and soil under our feet could be so toxic. Our kids, like so many others, have spent countless hours digging in the dirt, making mud pies, rolling in our grass, eating out of urban vegetable gardens and going to our parks. Now, as the weather is starting to warm, all we want to do is take them outside to plant a garden, play basketball and teach our 10 month old what the grass feels like, but we hesitate because we are not sure if it is safe. Like many Portlanders, my family is not naive to pollution. We live in an urban area, so we know there is likely to be more risk. We are not complacent either. We actively compost, recycle, eat sustainably and locally and we ride our bikes when we can. We do our part as citizens to keep our city green and sustainable. We were, however, naive, and could not have fathomed that the very government agencies and laws put in place to monitor and regulate our precious environment could be so inadequate and inefficient. They are not doing their part, and it is time to hold them accountable. It is time to fix what is broken and make Portland and the rest of Oregon a truly healthy place for our kids to live and grow. Please sign this position and join me so that we can all get back to digging in our dirt and breathing fresh air.

Flint's water has been poisoned for more than 650 days. In order for Flint residents to have confidence and trust in the water coming from their faucets, all lead pipes in the city of Flint need to be replaced. Flint Mayor Karen Weaver is moving forward with a $55-million plan, called Fast Start, to remove and replace Flint's residential pipes starting immediately, with first priority given to high-risk households. The plan is based on technical assistance and expertise from the Lansing Board of Water & Light, which has replaced most of Lansing’s lead service lines over the past decade. However, Gov. Snyder will commit only to reviewing the proposal. It's been months since the governor finally acknowledged the lead problem, and not a single lead pipe has been replaced.

Flint's water has been poisoned for 680 days and counting. In order for Flint residents to have confidence and trust in the water coming from their faucets, all lead pipes in the city of Flint need to be replaced. And Flint residents should be trained and employed to complete the work. Flint Mayor Karen Weaver is moving forward with a $55-million plan, called Fast Start, to remove and replace Flint's residential pipes, with first priority given to high-risk households. The plan is based on technical assistance and expertise from the Lansing Board of Water & Light, which has replaced most of Lansing’s lead service lines over the past decade. However, Gov. Snyder will commit only to reviewing the proposal. It's been months since the governor finally acknowledged the lead problem, and he has not replaced a single lead pipe.

Dr. Lester has nobly served the State of California as Executive Director of the California Coastal Commission for four and a half years since being unanimously elected by the commission. To be clear, Dr. Lester has not been accused of any improprieties. No accusations have been leveled against him regarding his job performance meriting cause for immediate dismissal from his position as Executive Director. Furthermore, and appallingly, Director Lester was fired despite overwhelming support, including 35 former commissioners, 156 current staff members of the California Coastal Commission, over 20,000 signed letters of support, online petitions totaling over 3,000 signatures, numerous hours of public testimony and speeches made by dozens of elected officials state, county and city, developers, conservancy groups, environmental, educational, university scholars, scientific groups and over 1,000 California citizens that travelled from all over the state of California to Morro Bay to attend the Coastal Commission's public hearing to show their support for Director Lester on February 10, 2016. In all, the consensus overwhelmingly confirmed Dr. Lester's impeccably immaculate and exemplary record of service as Director of the Commission and solidified his undaunted commitment to the Coastal Protection Act of 1972.

We must hold our government accountable for failing to strictly enforce pollution controls, and we must provide relief for the residents harmed as a result. Companies like Exide will continue to endanger people if they can violate laws and get weak punishments - let's make sure the government knows that if they let companies off the hook, they'll be held accountable instead.