On November 29th, the Chicago Sun-Times reported on billionaire J.B. Pritzker and millionaire Chris Kennedy’s myriad investments in fossil fuels. Furthermore, candidate Pritzker maintains a partnership interest in Energy Transfer Partners LP, the builder, operator and part-owner of the Dakota Access Pipeline. J.B. Pritzker owning a financial interest in Energy Transfer Partners LP is particularly disturbing given the widely publicized abuse of Native American Water Protectors by Energy Transfer private security forces at Standing Rock! The Dakota Access Pipeline project has sparked protests, hundreds of arrests and still faces a legal challenge. In January, President Trump signed an executive order to advance the pipeline. Construction had been delayed amid protests due to opposition from Native Americans concerning tribal sacred ground and fears of oil spills contaminating tribal drinking water. The pipeline carries crude underground from the Bakken oil fields of North Dakota, through South Dakota and Iowa to an oil tank farm near Patoka, IL, passing beside or under major rivers and waterways. Climate scientists agree society must move beyond fossil fuels for electricity, transportation and heating. Moreover, an ever-increasing number of economists and business professionals assert a shift from oil, coal and gas to renewable energy sources is not only necessary to prevent climatic disaster, but is economically advantageous as well. The state of Illinois should not stand on the sidelines as the world, including nearly 7500 cities and local governments, race toward a renewable future. Now is the time for Illinoisans to act! Now is the time to limit climate change and the resultant catastrophic weather events on the health and welfare of Illinoisans! PLAN OF ACTION: We plan to deliver this petition to all Illinois gubernatorial candidates at least one month prior to the Illinois Primary on March 20, 2018. Additionally, we will ask each candidate to sign a pledge to divest from fossil fuels and abstain from investing in oil, coal and gas assets in the future. View Sun-Times Report : https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/smoking-out-investment-gambles-of-chris-kennedy-and-j-b-pritzker/

The Organic Livestock and Poultry Practices rule is an important step in both humane agricultural standards and informed organic labelling. Consumers deserve accurate information, and measures to minimize animal cruelty must be in place.

I am starting this petition for our deer herd and for our future generations so there will be deer for them to hunt. Right now we are on track to wipe out the deer herd as a whole, as you can see in the last 5 years of deer harvest numbers each year is lower and lower.

The Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) is banning hydraulic fracturing throughout the basin. If that was the full story, I’d be off somewhere celebrating, not starting a petition. Since 2010, processing of fracking waste and extraction of water for fracking outside of the basin have been prohibited. As the Commission plans to take one important step forward by turning the fracking moratorium into a ban, it plans to take two giant steps backward by lifting the prohibitions and opting to regulate both activities. The DRBC issued its draft regulations on November 30th. In the few years that I’ve been attending their meetings, I’ve seen a concerning erosion of the public’s ability to participate. The public participation process the DRBC has announced for commenting on the draft regulations is the most unjust one yet. Earlier this week, I commented at a public meeting of the Delaware River Basin Commission. I told the Commissioners that the process for commenting on the fracking regulations is testing the limits of what kind of a process they can put together and still call it public. There are only two hearing dates, both in difficult to access locations in Pennsylvania. There are no hearings planned in New York, New Jersey, or Delaware. One of the locations, Waymart in Wayne County, is on top of a mountain, so it would be difficult to impossible to reach in wintry weather. They have provided no snow dates. The other is at a hotel at the Philadelphia Airport, a location that is virtually inaccessible for people in the city who can’t access public transportation to get there. To make matters worse, they are not taking written comments unless they are submitted via their online portal. You can’t even hand-deliver comments at the hearings. If you want to submit written comment or go to the Hearing without registration, you have to go through another application process and be granted permission to do so. People have to jump over one hurdle after another just to speak their mind. And then there’s this. You MUST register by December 31st to even attend one of the hearings. I’ve started this petition to help pressure the Commissioners into extending the comment period from 90 days to 180 days, add hearings, and remove the nonsensical restrictions. We want an inclusive process so that all who want to speak on one of the most important issues the Commission will ever face get the chance. Please sign our petition calling on the DRBC to create a just process that is inclusive of all of us.

A ban in name only is wrong for the Delaware River Basin. The Delaware River is a treasure that belongs to the public, not to the highest bidder. Fracking has no place in the Delaware River watershed -- or anywhere else, for that matter. The Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) -- an interstate agency made up of the governors from Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and Delaware, plus a federal representative -- is responsible for protecting the Delaware River Basin from dangerous actions like fracking. But the DRBC's proposed fracking regulations are a half-measure that won't fully protect the Delaware River Basin or the people who rely on it. The regulations leave the door open to both fracking waste and water withdrawals for fracking, endangering a drinking water source for millions of people. Only a full ban on fracking and fracking-related activities can keep our water safe. Tell the DRBC we need a comprehensive fracking ban, not a toothless half-measure.

Lack of maintenance and improvement of the public paths in Kensington is a safety issue, putting the residents of Kensington at risk. The paths are important escape routes in case of earthquake or wildfire and they can provide access to firefighters and first responders in case of an emergency. Community acquisition and ownership is an important next step towards maintaining and improving our paths for our own safety and enjoyment.

Verizon Wireless has proposed installing a cell phone transmitter in the vicinity of the scenic hiking trail near the water tank on 4990 Via El Cerro that has a view to Treasures, Harvest Moon, Heritage, Virazon, and Estancia Neighborhoods in Dos Vientos.

The bulldozing of the Culver Median Park that seemed to be prevented three years ago (our Move On petition then was noticed by the city) has now been combined with an urban storm water capture project that is part of a larger area plan to clean up water getting to the ocean. This environmentally important goal is, however, being used as an excuse to fast track the combined projects, limiting the time for, and responsiveness to, important public concerns about serious local impacts and loss of the trees. The public works department believes they have a done deal. The project is very over-scaled for the small area of the median park and the devil is in the details. Thus our long petition addressing those vital details

One of America’s last untouched wild areas could soon be opened up to destructive oil and gas drilling. In an unprecedented move, Congress has snuck a provision in their tax bill that opens the door to drilling in Alaska’s Arctic Refuge.

Wildlife habitats and populations have become severely fragmented due to rapid urbanization. We as a city need to ensure that our natural wildlife is sustained through building infrastructure that can support them. Hello everyone! I am working on my portfolio titled Sustaining Wildlife Biodiversity in the Face of Urbanization. Austin has lost many species now considered to be Endangered and on the brink of extinction such as the Red Wolf due to the rapid urbanization to accommodate the citizens and visitors nationwide. We are still home to many species that are Endangered or Threatened such as the Barton Springs Salamander. We need to find a middle ground to support the coexistence of wildlife and humans. I have created this petition to the Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, to call for the need to reconstruct infrastructure to protect and include native species in our city of Austin and the state of Texas overall. Please join me and sign my petition to save our wildlife biodiversity!!!

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors will be considering a ban on the sale fur in the next few months. Sign the petition to let the Mayor know you support the ban. Together, let’s make fur history! -- Over 50 million animals are exploited and killed for their fur each year. These animals are sentient beings who feel pain, can suffer, and want to live. Mink, foxes, and rabbits are confined in tiny wire cages inside of fur farms where they go insane from boredom, stress, and lack of stimulation. Many are killed in grotesque and brutal ways, including anal and vaginal electrocution. Coyotes and other wild animals are caught in leg-hold traps and suffer slow, agonizing deaths. Practices like these have no place in a progressive city like San Francisco. We are calling on the city to ban the sale of fur, as West Hollywood and Berkeley have already done. There exist numerous alternatives that are equally as warm, better for the environment, and do not require killing animals.

Farmers are destroying precious habitat for small woodland animals. They rip out fence lines that border crop fields. These fence lines are valuable habitats for rabbits, squirrels, bobwhite quail, and other various species of birds. Deer will follow fence lines when travelling from one woods to the next. If these animals do not have these fence lines they will decrease in numbers from lack of shelter and food. Not only do these fence lines shelter animals but they also shelter our own homes from the winter wind, dust, and other various forms of mother nature that could be damaging to our homes and persons. All just for a few more rows of crops! Most of these farmers do not own these lands but they lease them to farm them, and the landowners do not understand all the destruction these farmers are doing to the land and the animals.