The City of New Orleans generated approximately 302, 7261 tons of solid waste in 2013. This amount does not include the amount of solid waste during Mardis Gras alone, which is estimated to be as high as 8,000 tons.(2) Much of the waste generated annually and during Mardis Gras includes recyclable materials including glass, aluminum and cardboard containers . However, due to the limited free recycling program currently in place, too much of these recyclable materials ends up in landfills. Currently, only residential developments with four units or less and some small businesses are eligible to participate in the City’s free curbside recycling program.(3) Restaurants, Hotels and Bars as well as many commercial businesses are not eligible for participation.(3) During the 2010 Mayoral election, recycling was one of the top campaign issues. While measures have been taken since then, these measures do not go far enough and it’s costing the City environmentally and economically. For instance, due to the low rate of recycling, savings from landfill tipping fees are minimal -- approximately $150,000 per year. However, if recycling rates approached those of San Francisco, the annual savings on tipping fees would reach into the millions. Therefore, we the undersigned beseech the City Council to expand the City’s free curbside recycling program immediately. We urge the Council to increase eligibility of the program to include larger residential developments, restaurants, hotels and bars. And finally, we call on the Council to implement a special recycling program for the 12-day Mardis Gras celebration. New Orleans is a city of many great traditions; you can add a new tradition of sustainability and stewardship by acting now. Thank You 1. Based on EPA Solid Waste Generation Rate of 4.38 lbs/person/day: http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/nonhaz/municipal/index.htm and an estimated 2013 population in New Orleans of 378,715 from the United States Buerau of the Census: http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/community_facts.xhtml 2. Earth 911, Whose Taking Care of the 8,000 Tons of Trash From Mardis Gras, 2010. http://www.earth911.com/living/art-entertainment/whos-taking-care-of-the-8000-tons-of-trash-from-mardi-gras/ 3. http://www.nola.gov/sanitation/recycling/

In the past decade, protections for waters of the United States have been stripped away by the Supreme Court. Their EPA's rule, now under public comment, will restore Clean Water Act protections that have been lost for 55% of Illinois waterways. Clean water is necessary for public health, recreation, business, and for our children's futures.

When I put some grid connected solar panels on my modest Milwaukee WI roof a couple years ago, at the same time that I was trying to get our 30+ year old home to be as energy efficient as possible, I certainly didn't do it for the money. I did it as one tiny way to help the planet instead of hurting it. With our panels and other efficiency upgrades combined, our average WE Energy bills have been roughly half of what they used to be. I actually thought I might be helping WE Energies out as well, since I know sourcing more green energy is a goal for them. The current plan to raise fixed charges for all WE Energies customers, rich and poor, energy hogs and energy sippers alike, feels like a slap in the face, and is most frustrating since it will hurt low income and low energy consumers the most, take away financial incentives for both individuals and businesses to conserve energy, and is completely unnecessary, since by slightly raising the cost of energy consumed instead, they could not only meet their financial needs, but encourage conservation and green energy production at the same time.

A decision is brewing in Texas that could affect students across America. Texas Board of Education member David Bradley is trying to stop students from learning the facts about climate change. Bradley is pressuring fellow Board members to approve new social studies textbooks for K-12 students that deny the scientific consensus on climate change. Since Texas is the nation’s second largest buyer of textbooks, books produced for the state are often sold around the country. Therefore, if the Texas Board of Education approves scientifically inaccurate textbooks, students nationwide will be negatively impacted. Bradley said recently, "Whether global warming is a myth or whether it's actually happening, that's very much up for debate. Don't listen to anyone who tells you otherwise.” The broad scientific community in the US and abroad links the burning of fossil fuels to climate change with the same level of certainty with which it links smoking to lung cancer. Communities across the country, including Texas, are currently confronting climate impacts including flash floods, extreme drought and heat waves. Students have a right to be taught accurate information about the causes and consequences of climate change, so they can help develop solutions to the biggest global challenge their generation will face. Tell the Texas Board of Education to refuse to consider any textbooks for adoption that deny or censor the scientific consensus on human caused climate change!

Prescription Bottles are generally made of #5 plastic, which most cities do not take by curbside recycling and it ends up in the garbage/landfill. Join me in asking major companies to continue showing environmental leadership by launching a program where customers can bring their prescription bottles back for recycling. An effort like this would be HUGE and would reduce the waste of the thousands of prescriptions being picked-up daily and around 4 billion prescriptions filled in retail U.S. pharmacies per year. Plastic #5 is also known as PP-Polypropylene and is highly resistant to photo degradation and will not decay for at least a few hundred years.

Here’s what Google Chairman Eric Schmidt recently told NPR’s Diane Rehm: “Everyone understands climate change is occurring. And the people who oppose it are really hurting our children and our grandchildren and making the world a much worse place. And so we should not be aligned with such people. They're just literally lying.” Schmidt was talking about Google’s better-late-than-never decision to disassociate from the controversial American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a far-right group that pushes polices benefitting dirty energy industries and undermining progress on climate change. But Google is still a member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which – as the leading shill in Washington, D.C., for Big Business – does even more than ALEC to perpetuate polluters’ profits while humanity’s very survival is threatened by irrefutable climate change. If Google “should not be aligned with” ALEC, it should not be aligned with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce either.

Antibiotics are a pillar of modern medicine that can ensure a simple cut does not develop into a life-threatening infection, or so a cancer patient can undergo a full course of chemotherapy. Unfortunately, however, these ‘miracle drugs’ are becoming increasingly ineffective. Two million Americans get sick from antibiotic-resistant bacteria every year, and 23,000 die.

We have concluded that above all else, the carrying capacity of Kauai's Maha'ulepu Valley cannot support an operation of HDF’s size. Indeed, it remains to be proven that the land can or should support a dairy of any size. This industrialized dairy is not compatible, sustainable nor appropriate agriculture use for Maha’ulepu. HDF’s proposed dairy poses serious environmental risks and health hazards which threaten Maha`ulepu’s beautiful and ecologically unique, and culturally significant, coastline. We agree that Hawaii must continue to make steps towards self-sufficiency, but these steps must be calculated to ensure the protection of our precious resources. An Environmental Assessment (EA) must be required.

The Arctic is an amazing place, home to whales, polar bears, and other amazing creatures. We need to act now to protect it for future generations. Life is more precious, more valuable than money ever can or will be, and it is our duty as the human race to preserve and protect it.

Free trade agreements like TPP and TTIP are being pushed by the industries most responsible for driving climate change, including fossil fuel and industrial agriculture interests. These agrements empower corporations to attack our environmental laws and expand market access for producers of GHG intensive agricultural products like farmed shrimp, pastured beef, and palm oil from crops grown in the place of clearcut rainforests.

Loopholes in the Clean Water Act are threatening Lake Michigan and all of Illinois' waterways. Just this year 32, 000 people enjoyed Illinois waterways, and millions of people statewide rely on Lake Michigan and other watersheds for drinking water. Polluters should be held accountable!

The City of Milwaukee stands for the right to choose solar power. We Energies would eliminate that choice as well as raising rates on all ratepayers. We Energies needs to hear from its ratepayers that you will not be penalized for reducing your energy load through solar, other renewable's, or energy efficiency.