As Ameren customers, we acknowledge that our energy use has an acute impact on that environment, and that Missouri residents living closest to Ameren’s coal plants bear the greatest burden of that impact and that Ameren is in the business of making money for its investors and executives. But Ameren is doing this at the expense of the health and well-being of local residents. Ameren relies almost entirely on dirty, out-of-state coal to generate electricity, poisoning our air and water in Jefferson County in the process. Currently, Ameren is able to pollute almost limitlessly. Ameren’s plants lack pollution controls for dangerous sulfur dioxide, a pollutant that contributes to severe respiratory illnesses. Ameren is just starting to monitor groundwater at its existing coal ash pond at Rush Island, and has not yet produced any data. Although Ameren’s own documents concede that coal ash is already sitting in the groundwater at the existing ash pond, Ameren has no plans to clean that up before building a new landfill directly above the ash pond. Now, Ameren is trying to rush through proposals to build a new landfill for coal ash without informing or protecting our communities.

I have hit a wall of unfair financial calculations that has literally bankrupted me and has also kept me from receiving any aid that would be afforded to someone who earns what I do after Child support is deducted. For most Fathers or non custodial parents, the child support payments are automatically deducted from our paychecks and sent onto the MN Child Support Collection Agency. I am a contractor and working for a company. My Child support (56%) is taken out, leaving me a monthly paycheck of $1580. This does not have taxes taken out. After my home payment (which is on a home savers loan at 2% interest) and $175 to the bankruptcy trustee, I have $10 to purchase: gas, groceries, electric, trash pickup, heat, car insurance …etc. This does not include the taxes I have not been able to pay all year. I am not writing about the unfair family law rulings that disregard a fathers right to exist. The financial calculations I am referencing is the ones used for “in forma pauperis”, obtaining legal aid, Minnesota Energy Assistance Program. These guidelines put a single Father at a 3 month total gross income of $5,673 or below to receive assistance. This does not allow for the funds the Father does not even see in his paycheck. If I was a single person without children making $1580 per month, I would qualify. The child support is taken out before anything else. Before it is even mailed to the employees. I am not even talking taxes which would be the same for Fathers and single men. Fathers are penalized and support that would be afforded to the custodial mothers since the child support is not included in their income and placing them at a much lower rate, is denied the non-custodial parent. I owe over 2 months electric, all of this year’s taxes, now braces for 2 of my children. I need help and fairness. Fathers are forced into a continual spiral of worse case scenarios. I have to represent myself in court and am a legal punching bag. Bias in family law is very real, representing yourself means you shouldn’t even show up. The order will read whatever the opposing council writes down. My child support should show that. My ex makes as much as I do before the $1650 in child support she receives. ( tax free). For roughly $4700 per month. Deductions at the end of the year, only part of that is taxed. But yet, with the children she qualified for free legal aid, in forma paupris…etc I am told, I make too much money with a monthly paycheck that reaches me of $1580 before taxes on $3200 per month. Simply, Child Support should be deducted from a Father’s income if it is automatically deducted. Even if it is not automatically deducted, the amount would still be owed and collected. Please help the Fathers get a fair chance to have representation, pay their electric bills and ultimately have a life with their children. Thank you

The people of Collingwood Bay have built their culture and livelihoods around the primary forest and pristine marine environment that surrounds their community in Papua New Guinea. Now their way of life and ancestral lands are under attack by palm oil giant KLK, which has already landed a barge with palm oil seeds and security personnel in Collingwood Bay. HSBC is a principal bank to KLK, and has the power to stop this entire land grab in its tracks. Please demand HSBC take immediate action to halt KLK's theft of the Collingwood Bay community's land.

Not only am I a regular facebook user, I am also a page administrator. I run several pages and since facebook has decided that memes, joke, and pictures of your favorite animals are "low quality" content mine and everyone else's pages have been strangled on their reach. Facebook wants me, and all page owners, to PAY for the fans that have ALREADY LIKED our pages to see our posts. It's not chunk change either. They want us to pay 30-400 dollars a DAY so a few thousand people see ONE post. How often have you read a meme or a joke or saw an adorable kitten picture on facebook and it has brightened your day? If you don't want that to disappear forever then you need to SPEAK UP NOW and tell facebook that you WON'T be pushed around!

Illinois mental health patients and professionals face serious trouble due to cuts in funding for mental health care. Since 2009, Mental Health lines are down about $20 million total. From 2009-2011 the number for Mental Health was cut $108 million, however Illinois has restored funding to Mental Health  but still down 20 million from FY 09. Illinois ranked third among states with the highest cuts, totaling $113.7 million.  Petition By: State Representative La Shawn K Ford- Member of the Illinois House of Representatives Appropriations-Human Services Committee. http://www.dhs.state.il.us/onenetlibrary/27897/documents/mental%20health/marysmith/strategicplan/mentalhealthservicesfiveyearstrategicplan2013.pdf

Communities living near contaminated sites have the right to know what’s in their food and water. For nearly a decade, Georgia communities near the Savannah River Site nuclear weapons complex, one of the most toxic facilities in the country, have gone without robust information about contaminants in their food and water due to lack of funding for environmental testing in Georgia.

Phil Robertson, the patriarch of the family featured on the hit TV show Duck Dynasty, just went on a racist and anti-gay tirade comparing homosexuality to bestiality and saying that African Americans were "godly" and "happy" during segregation. A&E Network, which produces Duck Dynasty, responded by putting Phil Robertson on indefinite hiatus, but now they're coming under attack from the religious right. Already Sarah Palin, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, and the National Organization for Marriage are claiming that he's being unfairly persecuted for his religious beliefs. Sadly, this is becoming a huge media story dominated by anti-gay conservatives, and A&E is being accused of being anti-Christian -- when the reality is that most Christians and most viewers are appalled by Robertson's hateful rhetoric. Everyone is entitled to freedom of speech--but not everyone is entitled to a TV show as a platform. It's up to viewers like us to raise our voices and express our outrage when TV stations--like A&E--provide a venue for people with hateful speech.

I'm starting this petition because I recently lost my husband due to overworking and then having to drive all the way home without rest or sleep! I want to be able to prevent men that are working over an 8 hour shift at a rig location then have to drive so many more hours to get home! It's exhausting and unfortunately my husband paid the price after working about 18 hours then having to drive another hour and a half home! I want to make a difference in the lives of all oilfield workers and their families! By starting a petition to require all oilfield businesses to have a shuttle service to take men to and back from a rig that's over 30 minutes away from the office!!

This petition has been created to help others suffering from medical conditions when current medications do not work and the use of the cannabis plant may provide relief. As the creator of this petition, I personally have experienced multiple times when traditional prescription medications fail to provide relief from my ailments (anxiety, insomnia, ADHD). Working in nursing has shown areas where traditional Medecine lacks or it's side effects outweigh the benefits, and with your help we can bring forward an all natural SAFE alternative to pharmaceutical prescription medications.

Too many of my friends and family have cancer or unexplainable birth defects.

Newspapers need to stop publishing letters that deny climate change caused by human burning of fossil fuels.

Last session the Florida Senate proposed a solution to take the federal money. While not the best it did attempt to help our population. The house refused to do anything. The Governor gave a half-hearted endorsement and nothing was accomplished. The reason the house gave was that they didn't trust the government to pay its bills and medicaid has many flaws. Both of these reasons are ridiculous. The Federal government has always paid its bills and the state has a large say in how medicaid is done. So if there are problems with the program, the very people who are complaining are the ones who should be fixing it. Florida has the third highest number of people who die prematurely each year because they are without health insurance, according to a Families USA study. The nonprofit, created to get all Americans quality, affordable healthcare, found that 2,272 people ages 25 to 64 died in Florida in 2010 because they did not have health insurance to pay for medical costs. Also we gave up 50 Billion dollars that will go to other states and the payments to hospitals for caring for people without insurance will be cut drastically. This will cause a huge strain on our hospitals since they are required by law to care for the poor.