It's important to me just as a human being, but especially for my kids and future generations.

Heating and cooling our homes and offices comprise 40% of total U.S. energy consumption (including two-thirds of the country’s electricity) and 16% of total U.S. water consumption. Reducing energy use in buildings by converting traditional flat tar and gravel rooftops into green areas holds the promise of saving resources and money while reducing pollution and CO2 in the atmosphere through the ability of topsoil to naturally retain and/or dissipate heat. A large part of this program is the mandate that all firms bidding on projects train and employ local labor and that no less than 40% of all contracts go to minority-owned firms, which ensures the project benefits the entire city. Better yet, it can be the first part of “The Green Plan of Chicago,” which includes a volunteer commission of prominent Chicagoans and include a salaried position for a Chicago Green Commissioner.

As founder of a number of web startups, I assure you that charging for "fast lane" access will place startups at a disadvantage, squashing innovation and discouraging small business. In addition, existing small business will be disincentivized from building or maintaining their websites severely curtailing the web development, SEO, and SEM industries. With no websites, small business will not buy PPC advertising and the online advertising industry will suffer as well. This is a very bad idea.

I am concerned about the amount of Styrofoam currently being used in the United States. Foam cups, to-go containers, and food trays are all being thrown away . It can take a million or more years for Styrofoam to decompose. Styrofoam is one of the most environmentally unfriendly products to use. On average, 73 billion mostly Styrofoam cups and plates are being thrown away every year in the USA. I propose that we require the food service industry to use alternatives that are made from renewable and sustainable plant based resources, use less energy and emit less CO2 during production, and offer ways to divert waste from our landfills.

I am a small business owner. The proposal by the FCC to create a pay-to-play fast lane on the Internet could harm my business if I am not able to pay the higher costs of the new Internet policies. I am a parent and my child uses the Internet to gain information to successfully complete her work. If the websites she uses can't pay the higher costs then her access to research and information for her schoolwork will be limited.

I'm an instructional coach, leading the professional learning of up to two dozen high school teachers each year. I rely on having free and easy access to individual blogs like Teacher Lust, Leadership 2.0, Choice Literacy. I need the Internet to remain neutral.

I work in the digital media advertising industry. Net neutrality is what has made possible the extreme growth in knowledge sharing and really what makes the Internet special. If you oppose Net neutrality the Internet will be reduced to a television like format. A few big channels and nothing more.

Nearly one in five Pennsylvania workers would get a pay hike if the minimum wage goes up. It’s time for our government to update the wage floor so people can afford the basics, like food, rent and transportation. Increasing the state’s minimum wage to $10.10 an hour or more would raise the earnings for at least a million Pennsylvania workers, boost the state’s economy and build stronger communities. 70% of PA residents support an increase in the minimum wage. It's time for our elected officials to act on the will of the voters and support low wage workers in our state by raising the minimum wage now!

An open internet is one of the only things left that people can access freely and I do not want the Internet to be part of any monopoly. Please let your representatives and senators know to leave the internet as is, where everyone has a voice and the same opportunities.

One of the primary reasons federal officials originally got involved in public education was to promote equity. Legislation like the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) were supposed to help our neediest children have the educational experiences they need to succeed. But that mission has been seriously compromised, especially since the passage of NCLB under the Bush Administration, and continued under the Obama Administration’s Race to the Top (RTTT). Far from promoting equity, these initiatives have helped facilitate a corporate takeover of public education, by increasing the importance and the amount of high-stakes testing, which corporate-friendly local and state officials have used to justify closing growing numbers of schools in low-income communities of color, and giving our schools away to private charter operators. These charter operators have posed a serious problem. Our partners, the Center for Popular Democracy and Integrity in Education, recently released a report looking at this issue. In just 15 states of the 42 with charter school laws, they found that charter operators have cheated the public out of over $100 million in taxpayer money. That number can’t even begin to capture the harm done to the children in their care—children who went without nutritious lunches, school supplies, and more while charter cheats purchased expensive vacations, homes and other extravagances, all on our dime. Yet despite all of this, Congress is now poised to vote on a bill this week that would send $300 million more of our tax dollars to the charter industry. Ignoring the educators, community members, reporters, judges, Attorneys General, and even the US Department of Education’s Office of the Inspector General who have warned that nearly-nonexistent standards and poor oversight leaves charters especially vulnerable to fraud, Congress is actually considering a bill that would encourage states to further expand the charter industry, while doing virtually nothing to establish desperately-needed protections. Enough is enough. Our federal officials should be funding educational opportunities for each and every one of America’s kids, not just the children in charter schools. And they definitely shouldn’t be sending our money to a poorly regulated industry that puts kids at risk for its operators’ personal gain. Tell Congress to vote NO on H.R. 10.

The Westport public school Administration has decided to "blend" the Kool to be Kind (K2BK) curriculum into their existing social studies curriculum, thereby abandoning the essence of K2KB - a program designed to give HS students the power to help elementary school kids with real and complicated social situations. The administration has cited inconsistent language, inconsistent messages, and parent involvement as reasons to abandon K2BK curriculum. The K2BK directors are willing to do almost anything to ensure the program continues – including stepping down and allowing the Dept. of Health to take over. The K2KB message is clear – be kind, accept differences, open your eyes to those around you, stand up for what you believe is wrong. In this day and age, we need more people instilling the same messages over and over – not less. Please sign and get involved to save K2BK.

My low-income college students already have difficulty being able to afford computers and Internet access which is critical to their college and life success. The Internet, like any other utility, should be regulated so that students have affordable, neutral access to ALL information on the web. Access to this information must not be not controlled by the interests of the business sector as this will skew students' ability to do the objective research critical to their academic success.