Whereas: 1. With a failure rate of between 2 to 8 percent, horizontal drilling and hydrofracking pose an unacceptable risk to our drinking water and the quality of groundwater, aquifers, lakes and streams 2. Drilling will introduce over 250 chemicals into our air and water, placing local residents, wildlife, and critical agriculture and watershed areas at risk 3. Communities where hydrofracking has occurred have experienced explosions, fires, spills, stream contamination, and well pollution as well as degradation of aquifers and other water supplies 4. Local emergency services, including volunteer fire departments, EMS units, and healthcare providers, will be severely stressed and placed at considerable risk from accidents 5. Gas drilling will involve construction of a massive infrastructure of wellheads, pipelines, compressing stations, and processing centers. 6. Infrastructure development will involve extensive clearcutting, 24-hour noise and light pollution, huge increases of truck traffic, and the permanent altering of existing landscapes 7. Industrialization is incompatible with agriculture, tourism, recreation; drilling and related development will significantly alter existing use patterns of rural areas 8. Compulsory integration of neighboring landowners to allow gas extraction against their wishes is an unlawful seizure of land and an unconstitutional abuse of power 9. Extensive drilling will undermine property values and increase tax burdens on local citizens, creating boom and bust economic cycles in local communities 10. Recent preliminary assessments reveal that “natural” gas is not “clean energy” but rather just another polluting, non-renewable fossil fuel contributing to global warming We call on you, and your staff, to put the people first and protect our health, environment, communities, and future by banning horizontal drilling and hydrofracking to release gas from low-permeable stone formations in our states and country.

Update: As of September 24, 2024, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has still not issued a ceasefire and the Israeli government has instead horrifyingly ramped up its bombardment of Gaza and launched attacks against Lebanon, continuing to kill and injure civilians. Nearly 500 civilians were killed in southern Lebanon this week, including 35 children. The Israeli government's increased escalation of violence could lead to war in Lebanon and cause even more catastrophic devastation and loss of life. More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023, nearly 100,000 have been injured, and millions are facing famine and displacement.   It is imperative that we demand the U.S. government halt funding that is being used to kill and bomb civilians in Palestine and Lebanon immediately! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Every ten minutes, a child is killed by Israeli military airstrikes led by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Gaza. This means that every ten minutes, there is a child who will never get to fulfill their dreams. A child who will never get to fulfill their childhood, their teenage years, or their adult years, and a family that will never get to watch their kid grow up.  And it’s not just children, over 16,000 Palestinians (70% of whom are women and children) have been killed including and tens of thousands injured in Gaza by PM Netanyahu’s escalating military campaign of airstrikes (and violations of international law) targeting and bombing civilians in refugee camps, hospitals, homes, mosques, churches, and schools. Did you know that our U.S. taxpayer dollars are being used to fund the relentless bombing of Palestinian civilians? It’s heartbreaking and wrong, and we can do something about it.  Will you join in solidarity and sign the petition to say NO to using our tax dollars to kill and bomb Palestinians?

Dear Mr. McMullen, I’m deeply concerned that Kroger has not made a commitment to eliminate toxic pesticides, including neonicotinoids, chlorpyrifos and glyphosate, in your company’s supply chain. These pesticides are highly toxic and I urge you to take these actions for the sake of my health, the health of your customers and the environment. I also urge your company to increase USDA-certified organic food and beverages to 15 percent of overall offerings by 2025, prioritizing domestic, regional and local producers. Bees and other pollinators are essential to the production of one out of every three bites of food we eat, and without them your store would run short of many of the products it sells including nuts, fresh fruit and vegetables, meat and dairy, and more. Globally, between $235 billion and $577 billion worth of annual global food production relies on direct contributions by pollinators. Pesticides are key drivers in the decline of invertebrate pollinating species, 40 percent of which are on the brink of extinction. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has designated over 80 pesticides as toxic to pollinators. A new report by Friends of the Earth, Swarming the Aisles II: Rating top retailers on bee-friendly and organic food, grades 25 of the largest food retailers in the U.S on their policies and practices regarding pesticides, organic offerings and transparency. Of the top food retailers, 20 received an “F” for failing to have a publicly available policy to reduce or eliminate pesticide use to protect pollinators. Kroger received an F in this category too. Kroger faces both supply chain and reputational risks for failing to reduce the use of pollinator-toxic pesticides in its supply chain and phase out neonicotinoids, glyphosate and chlorpyrifos. Pesticides have “catastrophic impacts on the environment, human health and society as a whole,” according to a recent UN report. At the end of February, the European Food Safety Authority updated its 2013 risk assessments of neonics, which examined impacts on wild bees, bumblebees, solitary bees and honeybees and concluded neonics pose risks to bees. Further, the Task Force on Systemic Pesticides, a global body of independent scientists, recently published a new report which analyzed thousands of studies and concluded that neonicotinoids represent a major worldwide threat to biodiversity and ecosystems. The report called for an immediate stop to agricultural uses of systemic pesticides. Additionally, the Task Force just released another new study which reviewed 200 studies to assess mass use of systemic insecticides in agriculture, focusing on their effects on crop yields and the development of pest resistance to these compounds after two decades. The study notes an overreliance on insecticides including neonicotinoids and the authors identified a diverse range of alternative pest-management strategies available for large-scale crop production. Chlorpyrifos is a toxic, nerve agent pesticide proven to cause brain damage in children and known to harm the environment and wildlife. It is found in air, water and people’s bodies. People come in contact with the chemical through residues on food, drinking water contamination and toxic drift from pesticide application. In 2015, after extensive study, EPA scientists recommended that the pesticide be banned for all uses. Despite EPA scientists' recommendation to ban this toxic pesticide, Scott Pruitt -- the head of the EPA appointed by President Trump -- overrode the recommendations and reversed the decision to ban chlorpyrifos. The science is clear that chlorpyrifos is unsafe and food retailers should stop selling food grown with this pesticide. Glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide in the world. It is leading to the decline of monarch butterflies. Plus, glyphosate is linked to adverse health impacts. In 2015, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) declared glyphosate a probable human carcinogen. Organic farms -- farms that have eliminated all synthetic pesticides -- have been shown to support 50 percent more pollinator species than conventional farms, while also protecting and regenerating the water, soil and other resources that we need to produce healthy food for generations to come. As the second largest food retailer in the U.S., I urge Kroger to be a leader on this issue to protect human health and the environment. I call on your company to adopt formal policies to stop selling food grown with neonicotinoids, glyphosate, chlorpyrifos and other pollinator-toxic pesticides and significantly increase your USDA organic offerings, prioritizing local, regional and domestic suppliers. Thank you,

President Obama should show how the TPP agreement would prevent ISDS suits like TransCanada has filed under NAFTA against rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline.

I pledge to stand with farm workers and do all I can to support the UFW's campaign to obtain fair overtime for all farm workers in the United States. Excluding farm workers from overtime after eight hours was wrong in 1938. It's wrong now. This deplorable caste system must end...the change started in California, which provides over half of America's fresh produce. It’s time for this change to apply to the entire US.

Stop the deportation of Miriam Martinez-Lemus.

The Santa Rosa School Board has made an abrupt decision to transfer Debbie Rogan (Roach) out of Hidden Valley Main campus to another school. After the tragedy of the current fires our kids, school and community have been through enough. To remove Debbie Rogan from our school community and children at this time is insensitive and disheartening. Please help stop the proposed transfer of Debbie Rogan, Child Care Lead at Hidden Valley Main Campus.

I support: 1. The ban of plastic water bottle sales on Northwestern University’s Evanston Campus. Through the following framework: 2. The formation of a committee of stakeholders, including administrators, students, and industry representatives to review the university’s policy toward plastic water bottles on campus. 3. The upgrade of water fountains to include bottle refilling stations. 4. The provision of free or inexpensive reusable water bottles to students. For more information, to suggest locations for water fountain upgrades, or to suggest ways to ease the transition to a plastic water bottle free campus please visit: www.puraplaya.org

No one should be fired because they suffer from PTSD.

Canadian Prime Minister-designate Justin Trudeau, please keep your pledge to cancel the Canadian purchase of the F-35.