The stated mission of the Martha’s Vineyard Commission (MVC) “is to help carefully manage growth so that the Vineyard's unique environment, character, social fabric and sustainable economy are maintained as development takes place." Stop & Shop, an internationally-owned corporation, would like to expand its store in Vineyard Haven, the main port of Martha’s Vineyard. The existing store is 9,649 square feet and one story high (14 to 16 feet in height). Stop & Shop wants to build a store which is 48,987 square feet, two stories high (39 feet in height), and has a parking garage. Because of its size and location, the proposed building is officially regarded as a Development of Regional Impact (DRI) and must therefore be approved by the MVC. Stop & Shop’s proposal qualifies for rejection under the mission statement and enabling legislation of the MVC. Though in favor of an appropriate renovation of the Stop & Shop store, we the undersigned ask the members of the MVC to adhere to the clear guidelines in their enabling legislation and vote to deny Stop & Shop’s current DRI application, DRI 89-M3, for the following reasons: 1. Inappropriate scale and character. The “big box” store and parking garage that Stop & Shop wishes to build--typical of an off-Island shopping mall in Anywhere, U.S.A.--would dominate visitors’ and Islanders’ first view of Martha's Vineyard from the ferry. Such a building would adversely change the unique historical and visual character of the village of Vineyard Haven. 2. Traffic impacts. All studies agree that traffic would increase by 5 to 15%, further burdening an already highly congested area. The MVC’s traffic consultant has stated that the five roads that meet at the closest intersection, Five Corners, would ALL be at level-of-service F---meaning total failure. Large trailer trucks backing into the trailer bays would disrupt access to Water Street and the ferry via Norton Lane. Serious disruptions to public transportation, both the ferry (SSA) and bus (VTA) operations and schedules, are also predicted. 3. Economic impacts. The proposed superstore would compromise the economic sustainability of locally owned businesses, both during the construction phase and after. Construction would impede normal operations of many businesses Islandwide. 4. Environmental and quality-of-life impacts. There would be major disruptions during construction. Then and after, air quality would be reduced by increased traffic congestion and venting of the parking garage. Water quality would be reduced by runoff from the building’s roof and parking garage. Venting from the parking garage would contribute to noise pollution. Needed areas of open space and greenery would be eliminated. Furthermore, the two-story building would have no setbacks. It would encroach on the municipal parking lot and Cromwell Lane, and cut off sun to Norton Lane and the parking lot. 5. It sets a dangerous precedent. The scale of this building will raise the benchmark for an acceptable scale and style of development in the rest of Vineyard Haven and elsewhere on the Island.

A Food Initiative on the Gill Tract Farm -- VIDEO ABOUT PETITION: How smart is it for a major university to pave over half of its last research farm? One graduate student takes us on a tour and synthesizes 15 years of efforts into a stunning vision of what this land could be. Once home to the world's premiere organic pest control research center, U.C. Berkeley is about to build a parking lot and a big box grocery store on this prime soil. According to Katie McKnight (Master of Environmental Planning, 2016), this dismal scenario does not have to be the answer for this unique urban farm. Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yx-avVDbpf4 BACKGROUND ABOUT PETITION: For over 15 years, faculty, students, and local community have protested the commercial development of the historic Gill Tract Farm and research site, managed by UC Berkeley. These concerned stakeholders have crafted several alternative proposals, advocating for its preservation as an educational resource (like the 1997 BACUA Proposal [1]). In 2012, after neighbors and students occupied the land in protest of its commercial development, a 1.5 acre section called "Area A," now called “Gill Tract Community Farm” was transferred from Capital Projects to the College of Natural Resources and became a pilot project for a new community-UC collaboration. That project is flourishing, and we hope to see it grow to all 16 acres rather than the commercial development. Meanwhile, the commercial development that would pave over the southern portion of the Gill Tract is slated to begin any day. This development design, with its vast parking lot, big-box grocery store, and retail stores is out of touch with community and student needs. A new grocery store is being built just two blocks from the Gill Tract, making it unnecessary to build another national chain store that trucks in produce from across the globe. Furthermore, the additional diesel from delivery trucks and the removal of bioremediating trees and green space-- in a neighborhood whose air quality is already highly impacted by industry and roadways [2] -- would be damaging to the public health of the surrounding community. The UC has begun to prioritize food systems as a critical area for expansion, but this statement has yet to be put into practice. A center for urban agriculture and sustainable food systems at the Gill Tract would accomplish all four goals of the recent President Napolitano's Food Initiative [2]. The 16 acres are uniquely suited to be developed as a model food system that integrates farming, economics, culture, and public health. It would make UC resources accessible to the public through hands-on education and participatory research, and develop precedent for establishing authentic University to community relationships. This dynamic model could help make the UC system a global leader on issues of food and farming, while improving student education through engaged and active learning. Student and community voices now join together and demand that our public University reconsider the development and work to involve student and community participation in developing an alternative design that integrates the land's potential for education, research, food production, and distribution. A group of undergraduates, graduates, and alumnae delegates are prepared to meet and move forward with this process. We urge UC Berkeley administration, the UC Regents, and President Napolitano to halt the current development plan for the Gill Tract Farm and enter into a collaborative design process with students and community for the entire Gill Tract Farm. Sincerely, Students for Engaged and Active Learning Co-Sponsors for Petition: Fossil Free Cal, Student Organic Garden Association, Grow the Revolution, Berkeley Student Food Cooperative, UAW 2865, Movement Generation, Planting Justice, Phat Beets Produce, Gill Tract Farm Coalition, Occupy the Farm, Food First, Albany Farm Alliance, Grassroots International, Hormigas Organicas, Rooted in Community, Sustainable Economies Law Center, Biosafety Alliance More on our website: www.sealstudents.wordpress.com 1 http://www.cnr.berkeley.edu/srr/BACUA/bacua_proposal.htm 2 http://oehha.maps.arcgis.com/apps/OnePane/basicviewer/index.html?appid=1d202d7d9dc84120ba5aac97f8b39c56 3 http://modernfarmer.com/2014/03/university-california-plans-major-foodag-initiative/

This petition was started because we, the undersigned students of UH Maui College, wish to create funding for sustainability and green initiatives on our UH campuses. Currently we pay a whopping 30% of our tuition to cover the expense of non-renewable utility costs. Not only is this a great personal expense for each and every one of us, using this type of energy also contributes to carbon emissions, the main proponent of climate change. It makes sense to reduce UH’s carbon footprint, not only because it will generate a positive ROI for the UH system rathern than a negative one, but because it simply is the right thing to do. With funding backing the new Board of Regents Sustainability Policy, the process of planning and implementing the switch from dirty energy to clean, sustainable energy on campus would be within reach. The Student Sustainability Fund (SSF) was invented as one vehicle to put solid resources behind student led sustainability initiatives on campus. We would like to see this become a reality on every UH campus. It does not make sense for UH to continue to pay high energy bill costs while no funding currently exists for sustainability / green efforts on our campuses. We intend to step forward and empower students to create, fund and manage a sustainability fund to find solutions to issues like UH high utility costs. Just think about the funds a 50% reduction in utility costs would free up. This is within reach if there is cooperation amongst administration and facilities to make it so. The SSF will directly benefit students, clubs, departments and our campus as a whole. The Student Sustainability Fund will be $5 a semester for each student and give UH a starting point to make their goals a reality and engage students in active involvement in this arena. As the athletic fee is $50 a semester, a $5 fee for the SSF is a small step towards a brighter future for all those at UH Maui College. Sustainability and greening efforts on hundreds of campuses typically result in a 1-3 year payback with a high return on investment. To manage projects like recycling, renewable energy, student gardens and more, financial support is necessary and the SSF will provide an initial push for the administration to then come on board with their own investments. Fore more information and access to a survey on the SSF, check out http://www.hawaii.edu/sustainability/ssch/ssf. The mission of the Hui Haumāna Mālama Hawaiʻi (Student Sustainability Coalition of Hawaiʻi) is to cultivate a system of sustainable learning environments throughout Hawaiʻi.

Vermonters feel passionate about their right to know what's in their food. They made their voices heard through thousands and thousands of emails and phone call to their Senators. Some senators said it's because of boots-on-the-ground and social media outreach that they pushed the bill through. It's proof that organized activism and effective use of social media tools can make a difference. Please encourage Governor Shumlin to sign H.112 into law making Vermont the first state to pass such a law.

Although safer alternatives exist, about half of the Benzene manufactured in the world is being used in Asia as a washing agent. With no safeguards or ventilation in place , factory workers are succumbing to leukemia at an alarming rate, the number of suicides is shocking as well. Benzene is a proven cancer causing agent. Traces of Benzene remain in consumer products worldwide. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUPaAZu_l90 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ns-kJ5Podjw

The beautiful and historic Chesapeake Bay is overrun with pollution -- 98% of its oysters are already gone! Local states & the EPA have agreed to a plan to clean up the Bay, but far-away states like Wyoming are objecting. 21 right-wing attorneys general are citing "state's rights," even though states like Maryland helped create this plan. Tell the EPA to ignore the unfounded attacks & keep working with local residents to save the Bay!

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, every year more than two million people are hospitalized and 23,000 die because they have been infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Despite the serious consequences of the overuse of antibiotics, many large farms give antibiotics to their animals in daily doses when the animals are perfectly healthy. We need to preserve the effectiveness of antibiotics so they can continue saving lives for generations to come.

The destruction of Holy Jim Dams is being included in the steelhead trout recovery plan. All studies show these old dams have no impact. Removing the dams won't make a difference. After over 70 years of dams...the area is completely in sync with them. This movement to keep the dams was created by a Forest Superviser of the Cleveland National Forest. The conservationists want it returned to its original state, just because!!! The Sierra Club does some good work but also some less than desireable work too. I vividly remember running upstream, leaping from rock to rock with the pure joy of nature. The dams have become a beautiful part of nature as have the rock walls in Hawaii. Let the next generation and every generation after them enjoy this sacred place of nature in the midst of this concrete world.

Drilling is set to begin around Mandeville but will potentially extend across the state along the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale Ridge. The toxic chemicals that fracking releases into the ground water, water reservoirs, and the air surrounding the fracking site contaminate the environment and increase the risks of illness, infertility, birth defects, and cancer. In a state so dependent on the natural landscape and the water for food, transportation, commerce, recreation, and tourism, it proves nonsensical to support practices that endanger those activities and the people who depend upon them. This state has a beautiful ecosystem and a proud heritage of people who live with the land. The proposed site sits in the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale Ridge, and successful drilling would lead to further drill sites throughout the Ridge, further contaminating the ecosystem of the state. Fracking is bad for the people, the ecosystem, and the economy. In short, fracking is destructive to the traditions and lifeways that make us proud to call Louisiana home.

Europe has already fought back against powerful chemical companies and took a big step to protect bees by putting into effect a ban of the top bee-killing “neonic” pesticides. Now it’s our turn! Join Friends of the Earth and our allies in demanding that the EPA take immediate action to protect bees! Bees are critical in producing the majority of our food crops and the evidence is mounting that Bayer and Syngenta’s pesticides are a key contributor to mass bee die-offs. However, the EPA continues to ignore scientists -- even those employed by the EPA -- and has delayed action until 2018. But the bees can’t wait -- and neither can we! U.S. beekeepers have been consistently losing 40-100 percent of their hives. This winter, beekeepers are likely facing yet another season of historic bee die offs. We can’t let the EPA wait another five years to address this crisis. Please take action today and tell the EPA to ban bee-killing pesticides.

Europe has already fought back against powerful chemical companies and took a big step to protect bees by putting into effect a ban of the top bee-killing “neonic” pesticides. Now it’s our turn! Join Friends of the Earth and our allies in demanding that the EPA take immediate action to protect bees! Bees are critical in producing the majority of our food crops and the evidence is mounting that Bayer and Syngenta’s pesticides are a key contributor to mass bee die-offs. However, the EPA continues to ignore scientists -- even those employed by the EPA -- and has delayed action until 2018. But the bees can’t wait -- and neither can we! U.S. beekeepers have been consistently losing 40-100 percent of their hives. This winter, beekeepers are likely facing yet another season of historic bee die offs. We can’t let the EPA wait another five years to address this crisis. Please take action today and tell the EPA to ban bee-killing pesticides.

Europe has already fought back against powerful chemical companies and took a big step to protect bees by putting into effect a ban of the top bee-killing “neonic” pesticides. Now it’s our turn! Join Friends of the Earth and our allies in demanding that the EPA take immediate action to protect bees! Bees are critical in producing the majority of our food crops and the evidence is mounting that Bayer and Syngenta’s pesticides are a key contributor to mass bee die-offs. However, the EPA continues to ignore scientists -- even those employed by the EPA -- and has delayed action until 2018. But the bees can’t wait -- and neither can we! U.S. beekeepers have been consistently losing 40-100 percent of their hives. This winter, beekeepers are likely facing yet another season of historic bee die offs. We can’t let the EPA wait another five years to address this crisis. Please take action today and tell the EPA to ban bee-killing pesticides.