Target was the first major retail chain to stop selling cigarettes (back in 1996). Last fall, CVS made headlines when it too discontinued the sale of tobacco products. But CVS just did Target one better by also withdrawing from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. As revealed in a recent New York Times series, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is deliberately and systematically opposing public health efforts in numerous countries to reduce tobacco use. Just in case there’s any confusion, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is neither part of the federal government (that’s the Department of Commerce) nor anything like your local Chamber of Commerce (which may well be composed of small business owners genuinely concerned about your community). Rather, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world’s most aggressive corporate lobbyist, spending more each year than any other company or organization to push policies that benefit Big Business. Does Target really want to be associated with what the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is doing to shill for Big Tobacco and defend a product that kills 6 million people worldwide every year? We call on you to follow the lead of CVS by withdrawing Target’s membership in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Stop the federal water giveaway, save the Klamath and Trinity River salmon from extinction. (Klamath coho salmon listed under ESA). Please help protect our future generations.

You may have read in the papers that Governor Scott is encouraging private business to rent our State Parks for grazing cattle or growing and harvesting trees. Myakka River was first, but Paynes Prairie is now in the sights. The future of Florida’s state parks depends on your apathy or your action. It is your choice. The Ocala Star-Banner reported: Jim Stevenson, retired Florida Park Service chief naturalist, was chairman of a committee that wrote the management plan for Paynes Prairie when it was bought by the state. They voted to remove the cattle, Stevenson said, adding that state parks have historically been managed for their natural values rather than human uses other than recreation. “We felt the cattle should go and they were removed, and the fences were removed. It became a state preserve instead of a cattle ranch,” Stevenson said. “That's been in play for 47 years and everything has been fine until the DEP secretary decided that he wants cows on state parks.” But Governor Scott has a different plan - Cattle ranch owners have already been invited to government meetings to discuss setting aside part of the Prairie for grazing cattle. Whether or not you support Governor Scott on other issues, you will hopefully agree that this is a misuse of our park system. Forbidding certain sectors of publicly-owned land to the general public, while allowing a small subset of the public to use those sectors for individual profit, is not what the State Parks were created for, but it seems to be what the current administration has in mind. A few years ago, Governor Scott’s previous DEP Secretary told his deputy secretary that he wanted to privatize the entire state park system. The deputy advised against it, knowing there would be a huge public outcry. The current game plan to reach that goal: 1. Exploit the natural resources through hunting, cattle grazing and timbering which will require “private” contractors and further crush morale of the park service staff. 2. Starve the parks by eliminating more staff and funding each year including professional biologists and education staff. DEP has recommended cutting 209 park service positions during the Scott administration. Instead, the Legislature cut 78 positions. 3. In the absence of adequate staff and funding, the parks won’t be able to get their job done. 4. Gov. Scott increases “Free Days” which reduces revenue while park managers are struggling to increase revenue. 5. The parks’ facilities and resources will deteriorate and the politicians will criticize the poor management. 6. Since the park service will not be able to maintain the resources, DEP is justified to “privatize the state park system.” Of course government should be run like a business. End Game is achieved.

I'm the Matanzas Riverkeeper in St. Augustine, Florida. Oil and gas interests want to drill off Florida's east coast. An oil spill will devastate the Matanzas River and its estuaries. A National Marine Sanctuary will prevent oil and gas activities offshore of Matanzas Inlet while allowing commercial and recreational fishing activities to continue. Tell President Obama and Senator Bill Nelson to establish this National Marine Sanctuary before it's too late! Stop the oil and gas industry from destroying the Matanzas River--Florida's last, best, River.

President Obama is considering taking bold, needed action that would help to save orcas (killer whales) in the Pacific. Orcas rely on salmon for up to ninety percent their diet, but these fish are in rapid decline. The western drought and the presence of four outdated dams are bringing the salmon and steelhead of the Snake River to the edge of extinction, and harming the ability of orcas to survive. The best available science concludes that removing these dams and restoring a free-flowing lower Snake River would allow for the restoration of healthy salmon runs and provide a vital food source for wild orcas.

As a Florida college student in an earth-friendly environment, this issue concerns me.

A multi-national corporation that has taken initiatives for social justice should start at home with the waste it produces and managing it for a sustainable environment.

North central Florida's coast remains virtually unspoiled and is the only known calving area for the North Atlantic right whale (once numbering in the 100's of thousands, the population was hunted almost to extinction and now numbers about 500). These extraordinary gentle, slow moving whales travel from Nova Scotia down to Florida to give birth. The proposed Eubaelena Oculina National Marine Sanctuary will expand the current tiny critical habitat of the North Atlantic right whale and protect the area permanently from seismic air-gun blasting and oil and gas - http://www.nominate.noaa.gov/nominations/ - but the fishing/boating/oil and gas lobbies are working overtime spreading falsified information in order to prevent this protection. Tell President Obama and Senator Bill Nelson to establish this National Marine Sanctuary before it's too late! Stop the oil and gas industry from destroying these magnificent creatures and our Florida waters!

A proposed 250-acre drag racing facility will create significant noise and light pollution as well as toxic runoff that could threaten decades of work and critical Hawaiian coastline that includes Mahai`ula and Manini`owali (aka Kua Bay). We ask elected representatives to encourage more compatible use of those state, "ceded lands" while working to find win-win solutions to the public's varied recreational goals, including providing utmost protection of Hawai`i Island's natural beauty, environmental and cultural integrity.

Money and politics are a bad combination.

Eight youth plaintiffs just won a precedent-setting court victory in Foster et. al. v. Washington Department of Ecology. The Western Environmental Law Center, a nonprofit public interest law firm, represented the youth who filed their petition in collaboration with Our Children's Trust, a nonprofit leading a global legal campaign for a healthy atmosphere and stable climate. In a landmark decision, the King County Superior Court ordered the Washington Department of Ecology to reconsider their decision denying the youth’s request for a rule regulating carbon dioxide emissions and to consider the best available climate science. We need your voice to help us ensure that Governor Inslee does the right thing by directing Ecology to regulate carbon dioxide emissions by August 7, 2015.

Many recognize NPR as a leader in unbiased news and information. Its integrity is weakened when it benefits from advertising money from an industry contributing to climate change and climate disaster.