When shopping at Harris Teeter, we have a right to make healthy, responsible, and informed choices about the food we buy. But we can’t do that because Harris Teeter doesn’t label its products that contain GMOs. While more research needs to be done to understand the full impact of GMOs, they are not without risk. For example, some GMOs are designed to allow for increased use of pesticides, which have been linked to serious health and environmental impacts. And GMOs usually don’t undergo safety testing before they’re allowed onto the market. More than 60 countries, including the entire European Union, already require GMO labeling. And 93 percent of the American public polled supports labeling GMOs.[1] However, Monsanto and other giant agribusinesses are spending millions to counter this public support and block GMO labeling laws. Big Ag even spent close to $40 million against a GMO labeling initiative in California. But while they’re standing in the way of change, the grocery and food industries are slowly starting to respond to the growing demand for labeling. Some stores, like Whole Foods, have started labeling their GMO products. And General Mills recently announced that Cheerios will now be GMO-free. Harris Teeter should follow the lead set by Whole Foods and others, and start labeling their store-brand products that contain GMOs. -------------------------------------- [1] http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/28/science/strong-support-for-labeling-modified-foods.html

URGENT APPEAL TO NEIGHBORS, GUESTS OF WILDERNESS LAKE, AND FRIENDS The CT State Police and the CT Department of Environmental and Public Protection's proposed new Firearm Training Facility has been narrowed down to prospective 2 sites, with the major one located in Willington, consisting of 327± acres east of Ruby Road (the other site is located in East Windsor). A brief description of what is proposed: 55,000 square feet of buildings (one, or a combination of smaller buildings) that will contain: - classrooms to hold up to approximately 100 troopers and/or cadets - firearms simulator room - open area training room - indoor active-shooter training (not sure if this means an indoor range) - gun cleaning and smithing space - file storage room - staff offices - firearms vault - ammunition storage vault - recruit/staff kitchen and dinning area - reloading area - target storage area - bathrooms with lockers and showers - a garage Outdoor facilities will consist of: - 2 Range Control Towers - Qualifying Pistol Range (approximately 200 ft x 170 ft) - Active Shooter Training Range (approximately 200 ft x 170 ft) - Rifle Range (approximately 300 yd x 50 yd) - Shotgun Rifle Range (approximately 100 yd x 30 yd) - Approximately 125 parking spaces and the requisite well, septic systems, telecom, and electrical utilities. Residents have overwhelmingly opposed this facility, as has the Board of Selectmen. The concerns voiced range from the noise of the gunfire to the potential lead contamination of soil and water, as well as significant loss of property value throughout the town. There is also concern that, given the size of the parcel, this facility could be expanded to include other related functions under the control of the Department of Emergency Services & Public Protection. As owners of Wilderness Lake Campground, the impact to our pristine park that offers a rural setting getaway, a quiet solitude setting in which our guests share and balance with nature and animals, we recognize that this facility would change the setting of this town treasure. As Willington residents, we work diligently to protect our land and what it provides for us. We are acutely aware of the change that a firearm facility of this magnitude will have on our existence. We ask our neighbors, our friends, our guests, as well as all concerned residents in the region, to please use your voice and speak out against the violation of the rural residential character of this region of Connecticut and our quality of life. This proposed project has now moved into the Environmental Impact Evaluation (EIE) phase. It is now too late for comments to be addressed in the EIE, which is scheduled for release in October, 2015. However, your voice still needs to be heard by our state officials who will have an influence on how this project proceeds. Important contacts are: State Representative Sam Belsito [email protected] Legislative Office Building, Room 4200 300 Capitol Avenue Hartford, CT 06106-1591 860-240-8700, 800-842-1423 (toll free) State Senator Tony Guglielmo [email protected] Legislative Office Building, Room 3400 300 Capitol Avenue Hartford, CT 06106-1591 860-240-8800, 800-842-1421 (toll free) Lieutenant Governor Nancy Wyman State Capitol, Room 304 210 Capitol Avenue Hartford, CT 06106 860-524-7384, 866-712-6998 (toll free) Governor Dannel Malloy State Capitol 210 Capitol Avenue Hartford, CT 06106 860-566-4840, 800-406-1527 (toll free) Benjamin Barnes [email protected] Secretary of Office of Policy and Management 450 Capitol Avenue Hartford, CT 06106-1379 860-418-6200, 800-286-2214 (toll free) Commissioner Dora Schriro [email protected] Department of Emergency Services & Public Protection 1111 Country Club Road Middletown, CT 06457 860-685-8000

With the way our government behaves, sometimes the only way I feel truly American is because of the education I had that informed me of the Native American ways of life. Trips out west to native sacred sites and museums allowed me to dream of a different world. Our world is in desperate need of so many of those values we tried to kill off, in need of sacredness, in need of respect for those that walked here before us, those who have so much to teach us.

Kamali'i Elementary School and all of Kihei were completely smoked out by HC&S cane burning on May 27, 2015. Photos show that you could barely see a stop light a block away. HC&S claimed it was "odor" not smoke and a photo of the smoke with "This is a photo of what HC&S calls 'odor'" made its rounds on Facebook. Obviously the archaic system of calling a no-burn day (wait until after HC&S burns and the sun comes up, look at 4 peaks, if you can see at least one of them, it is ok to burn) doesn't work. We have suggested for the last 4 years that DoH revise this rule to use easily available meteorological forecasts including VOG index, wind speed and direction and predicted inversion layer to call no-burn days PRIOR to HC&S initiating a burn. However they have done nothing despite the literally thousands of complaints they have received.

1. In 1992 only 100 Louisiana Black Bears remained due to a shrinking habitat. 2. Currently, there are only 500 to 1,000 bears believed to be in existence, which is too little to warrant removing from the Endangered Species List. 3. Due to climate change and oil and gas development, many parts of Louisiana's bear habitats are shrinking. 4. The combination of a shrinking habitat and lifting the 30 year hunting ban could bring the Louisiana Black Bear back to the brink of extinction.

Kauai has the third highest electricity prices in the nation behind Lanai and Molokai. Many utility customers are working-class folks who have to work 2 or sometimes 3 jobs to make ends meet. Many would benefit from reducing their expensive utility bills by installing a solar water heater or PV system, but most simply can't afford the cost outlay. Many have bad credit, so can't borrow the installation costs from a bank. Non-profits have the challenge of raising substantial capital to install solar systems and also cannot claim the generous federal and state tax credits. The GEMS program changes the game, helping all these people. With the GEMS program, the utility lends the money to the rate payer directly with the loan payments incorporated into their utility bill. And the best part is that the loan doesn't follow the customer -- it follows the system. So if a renter moves out of a house, the new renter takes over the payments until the solar system is paid for. According to their website (gems.hawaii.gov) GEMS has the ability to finance the installation of over 44 MWs of energy across the state. Join me in signing this petition to ask KIUC to participate in the GEMS program.

I have seen all of the forests in the state of Indiana in perpetual decline due to logging and believe it is affecting the environment of today as well as for future generations.

This will affect citizens of Dublin in many ways, such as creating water shortage and traffic jams. Let's stop this waterpark!

Nestle has a water bottling facility in Madison County. They started pulling water from Blue Springs a number of years ago completely free. They don't pay any type of fee or tax for the water they take. In other words, they are stealing water from Florida. They have even fought to reduce or eliminate the property taxes they pay to our county. It's time we end this and ask Nestle to pay their fair share.

In September, 2014, federal protections for gray wolves in Wyoming were reinstated after a federal judge invalidated the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s (FWS) delisting of wolves in that state. In December, 2014, federal protections were also reinstated for wolves in the western Great Lakes region—including Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin—after another federal judge invalidated FWS’s delisting of wolves in that area. Wildlife management decisions should be based on the best available science, not politics. If Congress delists wolves from the Endangered Species Act, it would completely undermine one of our nation’s bedrock environmental laws—a law that Americans rely on as a safety net for our nation’s wildlife, plants, birds, insects, and fish. We have just begun to recover wolves in parts of the United States. This recovery effort has had some great successes, as we now have populations in the northern Rockies and the western Great Lakes region. But it is too soon to take wolves off the endangered species list, as multiple courts have confirmed. There is suitable habitat in numerous states where wolves have not yet reestablished populations. Continued federal protections are essential to allow existing populations to stabilize and expand to other suitable habitat. This is not just about the wolf – there are broader implications for the Endangered Species Act, as well. The Act is one of our most effective and important environmental laws, supported by nearly 85 percent of Americans. Unfortunately, the 2011 appropriations rider that delisted wolves in Idaho, Montana, and in parts of Washington, Oregon, and Utah, set a terrible precedent and rendered the Endangered Species Act vulnerable to other congressional attacks. Since the 2011 wolf rider, we’ve seen an uptick in bills and riders that undermine or block protections under the Act for particular species, along with other types of proposals to weaken the Act. We must not allow further “death by a thousand cuts” erosion of this bedrock environmental law.

The 450 unit apartment complex proposed in the "heart of the Agua Fria community" will: - destroy the community's rural residential and historical character - increase traffic congestion, noise, accidents, pollution - adversely impact city residents' use of water due to water scarcity and imposed drought conservation measures - significantly increase all other infrastructure demands on the community - set a precedent which will lead to more medium-high density development in the community; and - there are other city zoning districts that already allow for medium-high density development.

Bee colony collapse is a danger to our food supply. Lowe's recently stopped selling plants treated with neonicotinoids. It's time for Home Depot to follow suit.