The Raleigh News & Observer reported on Oct. 10, “In the 4-3 decision, the [Utilities] Commission said that even though NC’s corporate income tax was cut by the state legislature from 6.9 percent to 5 percent, utilities can continue charging customers at 6.9 percent and pocket the difference.” The newspaper said all the Commission members appointed by Gov. Pat McCrory voted in favor of this giveaway of our money. McCrory is a former Duke Energy executive; he benefited from over $1 million of the company’s campaign spending, and his environmental agency tried to block efforts to force Duke to clean up its coal ash pollution. The Utilities Commission’s decision is an example of favoritism to big political donors, rather than sound economics or fairness. The strong protest against Duke’s coal ash pollution of the Dan River forced some modest improvements. Now we need to push the agency responsible for protecting the public interest to oppose a bad decision that will cost us over $20 million a year. Mr. Chris Ayers of the Public Staff said they are “considering our options” to challenge the decision. Please sign the petition to urge the Public Staff to take strong action for the public.

In the Native American tradition, Mothers hold the power to remove leaders who are not serving the community. From the United States Native American Museum: "To this day, the Native America Tribal Council Leaders are elected by the MOTHERS of the tribe. They also continue to hold the power to remove a leader based on lack of performance." It is time to remove leaders that are not protecting our people. Moms Across America and supporters call for the resignation or removal of Gina McCarthy, Head of the EPA. Allowing toxic chemicals to be sprayed on our food and near our schools is harmful to our children and citizens. We demand a leader of the EPA that will put the safety of our children over the profits of a chemical company.

This pollution is the largest source of global warming pollution in America, and if we don't take action now, it will mean more heat waves, extreme weather, and dangerous sea level rise for future generations.

The Pentagon says climate change is an immediate national security threat, yet key political leaders refuse to accept this reality – including Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK). It's bad enough that Sen. Inhofe calls global warming "a hoax" even though scientific consensus exists. But for the Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Armed Services Committee to blatantly disregard such dire warnings from military leaders shows how deep Sen. Inhofe's denial runs. Americans hate this type of ideological fervor. If enough of us speak out, Sen. Inhofe will see how out of step he is with the mainstream when it comes to climate change. MORE INFORMATION "Pentagon Warns of Immediate National Security Threats From Climate Change," VICE News, 10-14-14 http://bit.ly/1CvuZVb

Factory farms house thousands of animals and can generate as much waste as a small city — waste that too often ends up in our rivers, lakes, and streams.

Right now, we're calling on Gov. Pat Quinn to step up and protect Illinois from this dirty gas drilling. But if state officials will not protect us from fracking, then we need Congress to close the loopholes exempting fracking from our nation’s bedrock environmental and public health laws, and we need to convince federal officials to keep Shawnee National Forest — and all of our treasured places — off limits to dirty drilling.

Maui County is ground zero for GMO and associated pesticide experimentation and it is making people sick. Monsanto claims it is a farming ban although only 1% of farms use GMOs. They claim they'll lay off their workers although they have extensive nonGMO seed operations. They claim that GMOs are safe but they are afraid that the study will show they are not. They claim that backyard gardeners will be subject to arrest but the initiative only punishes DELIBERATE planting of GMOs. Any plant in the ground can go through harvest and be replanted with nonGMO. They claim it hurts farmers but they're the only ones growing GMOs except for a tiny number of coffee, squash and corn that is GMOs. In fact, THEY have harmed local farmers by their claims because now people are avoiding local nonOrganic produce because they are under the misapprehension that local produce is all GMO.

We cant afford 2 billion gallons of water wasted each day by the fracking industry. Our mountains are full of water that will be needed by future generations. We can live without gas but not water.

Governor Brown himself is a person of faith and well understands that the world is in peril because of pending climate catastrophe stemming from the burning of fossil fuels. Brown has even taken action to stop climate change, however, his permissive policies in regards to fracking undo his positive steps, not to mention threaten communities across California. Ultimately, Jerry Brown, to be a true climate leader, needs to do more than take half-steps around climate change and therefore needs to stop permitting all toxic forms of unconventional fossil fuel extraction techniques like fracking in California and move us to a 100% renewable energy economy. Climate leaders don't frack, and understand the imperative to protect present and future generations.

Two major publishers have drafted new social studies textbooks for K-12 students in Texas that are filled with misinformation about climate change. Since Texas is the nation’s second largest buyer of textbooks, books produced for the state are often sold nationwide. The Texas State Board of Education is reviewing these books now, and will decide at its November meeting whether to approve them. Among other egregious errors, the draft textbooks from publishers McGraw Hill and Pearson assert there is an active dispute among scientists about the primary cause of climate change. The climate change-denying Heartland Institute is given equal footing with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which integrates the work of thousands of credentialed, peer-reviewed scientists. The publishers are responding to pressure from climate deniers on the Texas State Board of Education, who are determined to stop students from learning the overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change -- that it is happening now and caused by human activities, primarily the burning of fossil fuels. Unless McGraw-Hill and Pearson correct the many factual errors about climate change before its books are presented to the Board next month, students across the country will be denied accurate information about the biggest global challenge their generation will face. It’s crucial that we send a strong message right away that censoring climate science in order to sell books is unethical and an unacceptable disservice to students, and must be corrected.

The Bottle Bill places a refundable nickel deposit on beer and soda bottles, and those containers get recycled 80% of the time. Other drinks like bottled water, juice, and sports drinks don't have the deposit and only get recycled 23% of the time. These containers are the ones that end up as litter in our parks, beaches, and ballfields, and we shouldn't tolerate it. Vote YES on 2 to keep Massachusetts beautiful.

The soda industry has spent 1.675 million dollars (over $21/voter) to date in an attempt to kill this community-driven initiative. Berkeley vs. Big Soda is a David vs. Goliath story about a grassroots children's health movement struggling against a massive corporate-backed campaign of disinformation whose only goal is protecting profits. Not only do we want a win at the polls on Nov. 4th, but we want to inspire other communities to take on this giant - show it can be done. Berkeley is an early adopter of social change. It was one of the first cities to voluntarily desegregate its public schools, offer domestic partner benefits, institute curb cuts in sidewalks, and ban styrofoam containers. What happens in Berkeley doesn't stay in Berkeley. Please visit BerkeleyvsBigSoda.com for more information.