Western Environmental Law Center is a nonprofit, environmental law firm dedicated to defending the West from oil and gas exploitation. In 2015, the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service authorized the sale of over 20,000 acres of oil and gas leases in the Santa Fe National Forest. Our expert attorneys filed suit in May challenging the sale of these leases and are ready to use the full power of the law to stop the fracking of these public lands.

On June 16, 2014, Members of the House of Representatives voted to ban the U.S. transfer of cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia, [1] which has used them in civilian areas of Yemen, in violation of U.S. law. [2] The Obama Administration has said it has stopped the transfer of cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia. [3] The U.S. company that produced these bombs, Textron, has announced that it is getting out of the cluster bomb business, citing Administration and Congressional opposition to U.S. exports. [4] The current Russian-Syrian offensive in eastern Aleppo has used Russian cluster bombs. [5] Unfortunately, the U.S., like Russia and Syria, has still not signed the Cluster Munitions Convention, banning the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of these weapons. But the U.S. can still act to uphold and reinforce the international norm against these weapons even though the U.S. is not yet a party to the Convention, as the U.S. did when it stopped shipping them to Saudi Arabia. The "Textron" of Russia is the Russian bomb maker Bazalt. [6] Current U.S. policy allows U.S. arms manufacturers to operate side-by-side with Bazalt at international "trade fairs" for arms exporters, such as Jordan's SOFEX arms expo in May. [7] Any U.S. move to sanction Bazalt is likely to resonate internationally: the 119 countries which are parties to the Cluster Munitions Convention are bound not only not to use cluster bombs themselves but to pursue a policy of non-cooperation with their use by others. [8] Urge President Obama to name, shame, and sanction actors who specifically contribute to the use of Russian cluster bombs in Syria by signing our petition. References: 1. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/obama-heeding-close-house_b_10516480.html 2. http://www.noclusterbombs.org/news/2016/05/28/transfers-ksa/ 3. http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/05/27/exclusive-white-house-blocks-transfer-of-cluster-bombs-to-saudi-arabia/ 4. http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/08/31/last-remaining-u-s-maker-of-cluster-bombs-stops-production/ 5. http://www.noclusterbombs.org/news/2016/10/06/syria/ 6. http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/defense/2006-12-06/russian-bomb-builder-shows-its-target-smarts; https://www.hrw.org/news/2012/10/23/syria-despite-denials-more-cluster-bomb-attacks 7. http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/inside-jordans-arms-fair-471360379 8. http://www.clusterconvention.org/files/2011/01/Convention-ENG.pdf

I am transgender, and have been affected greatly by recent state laws, or lack of them. I live in MD, where we have our civil rights. There have been no problems (including in the bathroom). Please allow all transgender people the freedoms I now have.

Donald Trump’s attacks on the integrity of our elections just reached a new, unhinged level -- on Monday he claimed that “voter fraud is all too common” (despite a complete lack of evidence) and accused his opponents of attempting to ”rig the election at the polling booths." This is completely false and entirely reprehensible -- Mr. Trump has zero evidence to back up his claims, but by repeating them over and over, he’s attempting to convince Americans that their votes won't count, undermining trust in our democracy, and emboldening those seeking to intimidate eligible voters at the polls. We must call on every candidate for Congress and elected official (especially those responsible for administering our elections) to forcefully reject these irresponsible conspiracy theories, and instead endorse nonpartisan, common-sense proposals to ensure everyone’s vote will count. Many key Republicans, like Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted, House Speaker Paul Ryan, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, are already heeding our call and rejecting Trump’s conspiracy theories. Every elected official must join them in publicly repudiating Trump’s dangerous rhetoric. Those running our elections should support common sense safeguards like automatic voter registration (a proven success in Oregon and elsewhere) that strengthen the security of the voting system and make sure everyone’s vote counts. Those who promote Mr. Trump’s false claims and encourage voter intimidation want to suppress the vote and cause problems on Election Day. We’ll help stop this voter suppression with our nationwide Protect The Vote campaign -- already thousands of volunteers strong.

There are 2.7 million New Yorkers who are food-insecure/hungry -- almost a million of whom are children. Any actions our state government can take to increase access to healthy, nutritious food for those who need it most should be taken. By offering a refundable tax credit to farmers who donate to food banks, this bill is a win-win for New York's farming families and those who rely on emergency food programs to feed themselves and their families. We are urging Governor Cuomo to sign it into law before the end of 2016.

As of Nov. 15, The Item will be a shell of its former self. Gannett bought North Jersey Media Group and recently announced who's staying: Ad reps for the Item--- and no reporters. I left The Montclair Times this past June, just before the buy-out. Gannett, which also owns The Item, intends to keep the shell of a paper called The Item, and continue selling ads to unsuspecting businessmen, but has already gutted the paper. Other local weeklies will remain. Several of my colleagues at TMT remain. The message is clear: Millburn will be happy with news of towns 10 miles away. Right? And why? Because Gannet cares about "clicks." Because Millburn, unlike Montclair, doesn't have shootings and drug deals. Gannett is keeping a "local news team." Just not here. They think we won't notice. What does Millburn have? A committed community who cares deeply about this town. When Millburn High School threatened to end the Millburnaires two years ago, people came from far and wide to a Board of Ed meeting to protest. Millburn has the honor of just having been named the number one hottest real estate market in the state by the Star-Ledger (Sunday, Oct. 9). Number one. Montclair is number seven. Gannett is deliberately trying to mislead readers. This is not a "digital restructuring," this is a sham. Gannett has done this in other markets before, and when people complained, said: "there's no news." We don't want "phoned in" news. We don't want to read about Verona and Montclair in the Item. Let Gannett know that local news needs to stay local.

A corrupt bail and witness bond system has turned jail into prison for people who are too poor to pay their way out--and it’s claimed the lives of 55 people over the past 6 years. These atrocities have only gotten worse under the leadership of Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson. One thing is clear: DA Anderson has no place in office.

SOCIAL SECURITY is an insurance policy, not an ENTITLEMENT, as they would like you to believe. All people pay into SOCIAL SECURITY every week from their paychecks. Social Security is not a tax but a payment on your insurance (policy) even if it is called a tax. "Privatization means increased retirement risk, severe cuts in Social Security. benefits, and a multi-trillion-dollar increase in the federal debt. Privatization diverts money out of Social Security into individual accounts, leaving an even larger solvency problem" as President George W. Bush did on April 5, 2005, when he 'borrowed' $ 2.5 trillion in surplus revenues to pay his tax cuts for the rich and fight his Iraq wars and other projects - never paying it back. This needs to be paid back and stopped. Stop the general fund surplus that the government can loan to themselves for their own agenda. "Why are we not solvent?"

There is a path forward to save the 5.5 acre Marshall Park and incorporate it into the new Brooklyn Village development!

Me and my roommate don't get along and it's affecting my studies, athletics, and mental health!

The Republican Party claims to be committed to free elections and the democratic process despite its consistent efforts to disenfranchise voters through so called "Voter ID laws." Many of the Party's leaders have broken with Trump lately as if he were not a representation of the themes the Party has been advocating for decades (although he has discarded the frills and obfuscation). Trump's recent allegations that the election is rigged and his calls for group (mobs) to "watch your polling booths…(in)…certain areas" all contribute to what Matt Viser and Tracy Jan's October 15 Boston Globe story says is his increasing tendency "undermine faith in democratic institutions." This is a very scary scenario. If Republicans have any commitment beyond lip service to the electoral process, they need to publicly and widely denounce Trump's efforts to undermine it, and commit to protecting the rights of voters—of all colors, genders and incomes—at the polls.

It is time to place limits on Congressional representatives to break the gridlock in Washington. The American people have little approval for the way Congress is working at this point and no governmental body should become a hindrance to conducting the business of the people they represent or become a representative to only those interests driven by a profit motive a balance must be struck and the best way to strike that balance is through a regular influx of new civic minded people who know they have a limited time frame in which to accomplish the good work of the people of this great Nation.