Every where I go, there are folks worried about the rising cost of fuel, CO2 emissions, global warming, and depleting fossil fuel. My friends from Denmark and Germany commented that there are far more installations of solar panels in their countries (with less sunshine) than here in Florida (the Sunshine State). The reason is: they have FIT (Feed-In-Tariff) for renewable energy and we, the Floridians, do not.

Polystyrene foam, sometimes incorrectly called Styrofoam, is incredibly wasteful. It is made from petroleum, breaks into tiny pieces that are very hard to clean up, and never biodegrades. It litters our beaches, streets and parks, and is detrimental to aquatic life and land animals that mistake the pieces as food. Many cities in California have already banned plastic foam, and it is one step that we can take to make the earth a better place for our future generations. Many restaurants have taken the initiative to use alternatives such as durable food ware, paper, cardboard and certified biodegradable plastics instead of polystyrene foam. If we have the option to make better choices, why not make those choices? Earlier this month I attended the San Diego Green Students Youth Forum where I proposed banning plastic foam. At that time, District 9 Councilmember Marti Emerald told me that the best way to get started is to begin a petition. Mayor Bob Filner told us that it is up to us, the younger generation, to make a difference in our city! Help us make a difference!

The Minnesota Clean Energy and Jobs campaign answers Governor Dayton's call to build a sustainable future by transitioning to renewable energy like wind and solar power, increasing energy efficiency, and making it easier to generate local power. Please ask your legislator to support clean energy and jobs legislation that helps Minnesota reach its sustainability goals.

A petition from the residents of Astoria, NY, who want their local official to find a solution to the endemic garbage finding its way on Steinway Ave. and its surrounding.

All residents of the US should be allowed to generate their own solar power and sell it back to utilities. Universal access and net-metering would not increase utility bills and would likely lower them over time.

They are not recycled and are getting dumped into the ocean.

This hard plastic is showing up everywhere and wrecking our environment. We need to put back into the environment not dump in it. Glass can be recycled.

University At Buffalo's and the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus's 2020 plan is to systematically gentrify the McCarley Gardens and Fruit Belt neighborhood, not to mention imminent domain and land banking. The residents have no say in what happens to them. The tenants of McCarley Gardens face displacement due to UB's attempt to purchase the property from Oak Michigan Development Corp. (an arm of St. John Baptist Church). The city of Buffalo gave control of their properties to this Corporation in the Fruit Belt causing health problems and damage to properties as a result of the construction work. Also, the employees of the Campus are parking four blocks into the Fruit Belt, therefore leaving no parking space for the residents. They have four more building projects which means additional parking and construction issues.

We have had "right turn on red" for many years to save fuel. We need to further reduce fuel waste and idling pollution by reducing the restrictions on left turns. When ever reasonable "left turn on arrow only" should be changed to "left turn yield" at intersections that do not have sufficient oncoming traffic to warrant the restriction.

We need to move treatment plant from school areas.

THE LANDSCAPE AND WASTE FACILITY ON PETER BAKERS PROPERTY

Our names are Leyla and Liza and we are 10 years old. If constructed, the Keystone XL pipeline will carry one of the dirtiest fuels, tar sands oil, which emits three times more greenhouse gases than conventional gasoline production. It will cause earth, air and water pollution and destroy the lives of people, animals, and our precious land. The pipeline will travel more than 1,700 miles through farmland and fragile ecosystems. In the last decade we have had over 2,500 oil spills. Our planet needs our help, please stop the worst climate bomb in world history from exploding. Save the earth for our generation.