I believe in increasing awareness of our planet, how we affect it, and how we can protect it. I constantly hear about the dying marine ecosystem and the dwindling Arctic habitat. Things need to change. We need to be active. We need to protect these habitats before they're gone forever.

The Los Angeles Ethics Commission recently proposed important changes to the city's matching funds system to increase the rate at which qualified donations are matched to 6 dollars for every dollar. This has the potential to give small donors a fighting chance in city elections. Unfortunately, the Commission has not recommended lowering the amount that can be matched per donor. Under the current proposal, up to $500 of a donation gets the 6-1 match, meaning somebody who gave $1,300 — clearly not a "small" donor — would get $3,000 in public funds — making their advantage over small donors even bigger! Please urge the three members of the Los Angeles City Council Rules Committee to fix the proposal: City Council President Herb Wesson, Councilmember Jose Huizar, and Councilmember Tom Labonge. Sign the petition now!

As a concerned young American voter, I feel that it is a duty of mine to pass this petition on and around to whoever wishes to sign it, so that the People can be informed of this mighty issue.

The Arctic is truly an amazing place, home to whales, polar bears, and other amazing creatures. We need to act to protect it for future generations.

The last remaining indigenous forests are in the northern hemisphere. Over 75 % of the planet has been deforested and we must protect what few diverse forests remain.

It's past time for Edward to have his day in court. If the police did not do anything wrong why don't they want to have a trail. If Edward had killed someone he would have been arrested and tried by a jury. The grand jury in Ohio is a joke when the DA is fighting for the police and not Edward.

Because I have a disabled child, I am not able to work a full time job due to my child's weekly appts or meltdowns. Therefore my household is handicapped. I have put a lot of money into Social Security and feel that I should receive benefits early, based on my situation.

He deserves such harassment for all the pain and suffering he has caused (me) our country from any forward movement because he is hell bent to keep Obama from having any accomplishments.

Debates are a vital part of our democratic process. As a law student focused in public service I’m learning that a clean government is worth much more than we give credit. Democracy is more than a word, or an ideal, it’s action! And it’s worth preserving. The costs of corruption are often hidden, buried inside our tax bill, our rent, or the prices we pay in the store. Democracy is not a Coronation. Debates matter and part of a transparent, uncorrupt, legitimate democracy. It is time to refocus the candidate debate away from political posturing in favor of political responsibility. We need to hear how our candidates respond when probed by people who either disagree with them or who simply want them to clarify their positions or provide more detail. Gov. Cuomo has every reason to refuse to a debate with primary challenger Zephyr Teachout. The conventional wisdom has always been that the candidate leading in the polls has fewer reasons to participate, especially when he has a $35 million war chest. But, shouldn’t the fact that a citizen of New York, and a resident of Harlem wants to ask both candidates questions and hear their unscripted answers, be reason enough to participate in such a debate? Isn’t that what democracy looks like. I’m a law student part of a Public Interest Law and Ethics program called Stein Scholars at Fordham University School of Law. The program competitively selects students and trains them for future careers in the public sphere. I live in Harlem, NY.

The Arctic is a beautiful environment and it is home to many indigenous peoples, polar bears, arctic foxes, whales, and many other beautiful creatures. They don't deserve to suffer because of the actions of the invading companies. We need to stand up for this issue and stop it before the Arctic's environment itself is destroyed.

I decided to start this petition to use my energies to help a deeply imperiled part of our planet-the Arctic. Right now there are so many strikes against this amazing place which is home to endangered polar bears, various species of majestic whales whose numbers are in rapid decline, and many other beautiful animals. So I thought if an ordinary person like me could help to bring awareness about the plight of the Arctic, or encourage others to really think about what we’d be losing if the Arctic was ruined forever…why not roll up my sleeves and get involved. So here I am, ready and willing to act to protect this amazing place for future generations. Actually, I consider it my duty and an honor to be involved.

As a Philadelphia public school teacher for more than 14 years, I've seen firsthand the damage Walmart can do in our communities. My brother worked as a Walmart manager and saw how Walmart's business model destroyed families. But learning that the Walton Foundation is funding attacks on our schools was my tipping point. After eight years teaching health and physical education in the same school, my school was taken out of the district’s control and every single teacher was forced to be transferred - all in the name of creating a privately-controlled charter school with little oversight or accountability. I was forced to transfer to a new school and leave behind students who had grown up with me as their teacher since kindergarten. Teachers and students across Philadelphia have experienced these kinds of devastating school closures, which destabilize our communities and often take resources from students who need them the most. All of this was largely thanks to the work of the Philadelphia School Partnership, which received $5 million from the Walton Foundation in 2013 alone. Unfortunately, Philadelphia is not unique. The Walton Foundation funds anti-public education initiatives like this across the country. And yet their stores profit enormously from school teachers and parents, who stock up on school supplies each year during the back-to-school season. This year I'm taking a stand - I will be spending my back-to-school dollars elsewhere. Will you join me?