Monsanto and Roundup contain poisons that are effecting your health. Monsanto has taken over the food industry and putting small organic farmers out of business.

We are Save Our Sandy, which is also our battle cry! We are in a fight to preserve what has existed in rural Marshall County, Illinois for generations. We live along Sandy Creek, where our pioneer ancestors settled after looking for clean water, trees for their cabins, and grass for their livestock. Now a mega hog factory wants to locate next to our beloved creek, and next to us. Their plan is to house nearly 20,000 hogs in three huge buildings, storing the animal waste in deep concrete pits below the hogs. We are devastated by the news. Our fears are many because the environmental track record of hog factories is poor. Many hog factories have been prosecuted for polluting nearby streams. Hog waste contains antibiotic-resistant superbugs and harmful gases. The fumes travel several miles downwind. The proposed hog factory will produce an incomprehensible 10 million gallons of waste annually. We will be unable to enjoy the outdoors or keep our windows open. Our homes will be extremely difficult to sell, losing much of their value. Our county board is against this hog factory, but the decision is not in our community’s hands. Changes to the Livestock Management Facilities Act need to be made so neighbors like Save Our Sandy are protected.

People are growing increasingly aware of the environmental hazards of plastic water bottles; it's time to take it a step further and challenge large corporations to further reduce plastic use and consumption by switching to biodegradable choices where they exist. Starbucks and its subsidiary companies should be leading the change on reducing their environmental impacts by using biodegradable and green to-go products. Further use of single-life plastics is contributing to the global trash epidemic; which is leaving our oceans and lands littered with plastic, creating health hazards and endangering many animal populations.

For a long time I have witnessed the flybys that leave chemicals. These chemicals sit in the sky and spread out and as a result the morning blue sky turns grey. We need our sun. You are killing this planet. Why? You make claims that other countries have weapons of mass destruction. My view is this is the greatest weapon of mass destruction.

According to National Geographic explorer-in-residence Enric Sala, "It's the closest thing I've seen to the pristine ocean." Tuna are in trouble and have been unable to get protection. The loss to the U.S. tuna fleet will only be 3%. And sport fishing removes the largest specimens that tend to be the last breeding stock for the future. Along with no energy exploration, there must also be no extraction of fish. Joey Racano, Director www.OceanOutfallGroup.com On Facebook: Ocean Outfall Group

Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, would threaten our waters. Toxic chemicals can leak into aquifers that feed springs and wells, and fracking waste water spills can pollute rivers and lakes. The methane gas stirred loose during the drilling process can end up in tap water, causing it to ignite. My community and I depend on individual wells to provide our water. The drinking water for at least 2.4 million people in North Carolina, including more than 400,000 well-users, is at stake. Special thanks to WNC Frack Free (wncfrackfree.org) for helping out.

Rhode Island's legislative session ends this week. Environmentalists have already won exciting victories to expand solar energy, implement first steps of a state composting program, fund public transportation, and more. However, there are some final bills that need final approval. One of them is a critical bill to protect Narragansett Bay by finally phasing out cesspools, an outdated septic method that pollutes the environment.

Why is a home improvement store interested in spreading climate change denial propaganda? The store itself sells things to make homes more energy efficient (doors, windows, insulation, even solar panels), and should be capitalizing on the "green movement", so the only possible explanation is the owner trying to protect his personal investments in fossil fuels. I work part time at the country's third largest home improvement retailer, Menards. We receive a monthly newsletter called, "Menards Memos." The current issue features a climate change denial article, and when I saw it, my jaw dropped in disbelief. (This is the article reprinted in the newsletter: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2014/04/17/chicken-little-science/ ) I've posted this petition anonymously because I fear retaliation for speaking out, but It isn't right to use power and influence to force personal opinions on employees and try to protect polluting industries for personal profit. As a citizen, I am angered that people spread misinformation that harms our health and the environment just to hoard more money. As an employee, I'm confused as to why you would support misleading information that fights against many of the efficiency improving products we sell.

Rhode Island's legislative session ends this week. Environmentalists have already won exciting victories to expand solar energy, implement first steps of a state composting program, fund public transportation, and more. However, there are some final bills that have passed in the Senate but still need final approval in the House. One of them is a critical bill to protect Narragansett Bay by finally phasing out cesspools, an outdated septic method that pollutes the environment.

The monarch butterfly is in serious trouble. The spread of GMO crops and accompanying pesticides have been wiping out the young monarch's key food source, milkweed. But you can help! Add your name to our petition calling on the EPA and USDA to stop approving pesticide-resistant genetically engineered crops and to instead promote non-toxic pest and weed management to the benefit of farmers, our health, our ecosystems and the precious monarch butterfly.

The monarch butterfly is in serious trouble. The spread of GMO crops and accompanying pesticides have been wiping out the young monarch's key food source, milkweed. But you can help! Add your name to our petition calling on the EPA and USDA to stop approving pesticide-resistant genetically engineered crops and to instead promote non-toxic pest and weed management to the benefit of farmers, our health, our ecosystems and the precious monarch butterfly.

Plastic bags are detrimental to the environment. Sign the petition for your children or grandchildren, who may want to swim in the ocean one day, or eat seafood. Here are the facts: • About 1 million plastic bags are used every minute. • A single plastic bag can take up to 1,000 years to degrade. • More than 3.5 million tons of plastic bags, sacks and wraps were discarded in 2008. • The U.S. goes through 100 billion single-use plastic bags. This costs retailers about $4 billion a year. • Plastic bags are the second-most common type of ocean refuse, after cigarette butts (2008) • Plastic bags remain toxic even after they break down. • Every square mile of ocean has about 46,000 pieces of plastic floating in it. Saint Paul has adopted a ZERO WASTE goal by the year 2020. This Goal cannot be achieved without banning single use plastic bags. Please Sign Now!