My own daughters can depend on clean water, health care and nutritious food. I empathize with moms around the world who aren't able to meet these basic needs for their children and watch them suffer and die from treatable and preventable causes.

My co-workers and I work at the Huhtamaki Commerce, California plant and we’ve been fighting for a voice on the job, safer working conditions and better wages. We struggle to support our families on the wages we make and sometimes have to work in 100 degree temperatures. But instead of meeting with us to discuss our concerns, Huhtamaki management has ignored us and retaliated against some of my co-workers for speaking out. Since Huhtamaki is ignoring us, we’re bringing our fight for justice to one of its customers--Chipotle. Huhtamaki supplies Chipotle with burrito bowl containers and goes to great lengths to assure the public of the high ethical standards that the companies which supply its all of its ingredients must meet—“Food with Integrity.” We think those same standards should apply to Huhtamaki. The Chipotle website boasts of its compliance with the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act of 2010 in ensuring its food suppliers “demonstrate respect for people, the environment and farm animals” and that it routinely audits those suppliers to determine that they meet Chipotle’s high standards. Surely the company that supplies its burrito bowl containers should follow the same standards it expects from the farmers it gets its food from. Sign our petition now to Chipotle CEO Steve Ells urging Chipotle to stand up for Huhtamaki workers as strongly as it stands up for the environment and animals it uses in its food.

November 19, 2014 Mayor Charlie Hales Commissioner Dan Saltzman Commissioner Nick Fish Commissioner Steve Novick Commissioner Amanda Fritz Dear Mayor Hales and Members of the Portland City Council, We are a community of members who care about active, healthy, vibrant recreational opportunities. We believe Portland has the potential to become a recognized and acclaimed haven for off-road cycling. To achieve that vision, we agree with Commissioner Amanda Fritz – it’s time for a citywide master plan for recreational cycling. In fact, we are decades overdue at this point. Now is the time to fund a planning process for off-road cycling. We request that City Council designate $200,000 to launch us into that process. It is past time to meet the overflowing demand for recreational cycling access. Thank you for your consideration, Northwest Trail Alliance & Friends

My fellow professors wages are being cut because our administration does not value instruction. Only CONSTRUCTION.

I believe that Edward Snowden is a patriot who has stood valiantly against what he believes to be unconstitutional and oppressive practices by agents of the United States Government. I have been affected by those abuses, as has every other American who makes phone calls and uses the Internet. Our freedom is at stake.

In spite of recent improvements, including the new school funding formula and increased funding for early childhood education, which represent a tremendous step forward, we've dropped to 50th in per-student funding (cost of living adjusted) and our underfunded schools remain at the bottom in academic outcomes/performance. The upcoming session represents an opportunity for our legislators to take the next step.

Second-hand smoke is a health hazard and a nuisance. Apartment residents have no recourse against this; innocent babies, children, and elderly people are affected by it. It's not fair to have this poisonous smoke where we eat, sleep, and live. We have a right to breathe clean air.

The University of California is on a collision course with the future. They’ve threatened to raise tuition if the state refuses to give the system additional taxpayer funds, and it’s flat out wrong. The UC’s ultimatum violates their tuition-freeze agreement negotiated only a few years ago in exchange for more state funding. And it’s a demand that comes on the heels of their 20% salary increases for some of the system’s top earners. The UC’s go-to solution for budget challenges is to demand more money from students or taxpayers. They continue to ignore the difficult changes needed within the system to guarantee its long-term viability. The University of California should embark upon earnest and innovative attempts to reduce the university’s cost structure, and consider performance-based budgeting that promotes affordability and accessibility. Without change, the UC will continue demanding more condition-free money from taxpayers and students, hand over fist, year after year. It’s time to show UC system leadership that we won’t reward their bad behavior and we won’t accept the status quo. Sign our petition to the Board of Regents and join the fight!

Last year North Carolina ranked 2nd (only to California) in terms of solar capacity added. But we still get less than 1% of our energy from the sun. Greensboro has a history of innovation, so we should encourage the city to take the lead on solar, and commit to getting 10% of it's energy from solar power. We can clean up the environment AND create local jobs at the same time. So let's Grow Solar Greensboro!

The current committee membership is not representative of the majority of state citizens.

Every year, over a million gallons of water go wasted and unused down the hillside behind the TxAIR buildings on the UT Tyler campus. This water strips topsoil from the ground and erodes the creek below during heavy rains. We want permission from the University to use this site for a garden and put this water to work irrigating our vegetables - instead of hurting our creek. If you want to save the creek, and grow some food, sign our petition and... Let's start a community garden at UT Tyler! PS - If you are a UT Tyler student, then include your 10 digit student ID with your name. Thanks! Also - please visit our Facebook page at Clean Food UT Tyler to stay in touch with this project and get important updates on our progress.

This issue should be a concern for everyone who has compassion for other human lives in this world. There is a constant daily deadline for so many lives on the African Continent. I see everyday how so many people take so much for granted here in the US. It makes me ashamed to call myself an American sometimes. I feel affected by this for the simple fact that I have come to know and love so many amazing and talented people from many parts of this beautiful continent that have become like family and I never want to say goodbye to them for something that can be helped. If nothing is done and we as a country keep allowing this to be for all those innocent men, women and children, then God have mercy on our souls. People seem to forget or not even care to remember the last time nothing was done for the innocent people of Rwanda: In just 100 days in 1994, some 800,000 people were slaughtered in Rwanda by ethnic Hutu extremists. They were targeting members of the minority Tutsi community, as well as their political opponents, irrespective of their ethnic origin...As reported by BBC NEWS. People here always say we need to take care of ourselves and our country first, but what if their loved ones were being slaughtered or starving or couldn't get medical help for lack of money? Would they feel the same?