NEWSENVIRONMENT

Rick Spilsbury is a Western Shoshone, native to Nevada. He lives in Ely and writes a blog called No Shoot Foot that you can check out here: http://noshootfoot.blogspot.com/

By: Rick Spilsbury

Being in Nature is like going back to your soul. You know what I'm talking about; that feeling that you are more complete when you feel you're a part of a natural place.

And you should. No man is an island. We are just a part of life on Earth – and we should relish that. As humans, we crave the feeling of a complete soul. And we are more likely to feel that feeling when we are in Nature. In fact, fresh air actually feels like the breath of life – because it is. This perception makes sense if we think of the life all around us as the rest of our soul. And the life around us is that consciousness which lives on after our body dies.

And if this all makes sense, then destroying nature for money is destroying a part of your soul.

Hundreds of people around the U.S. have joined Stiv Wilson's petition on Change.org asking the National Park Service to re-instate its plastic bottle ban in the Grand Canyon. But he's not the only person angered enough to launch a petition. Independently of Stiv, others have come to Change.org to launch their own campaigns and are now coordinating their voices. Here are what the petition creators say: 

Deborah Patterson, Artist and Art Teacher, Baltimore, Maryland (Deborah's petition)

Over the years, I have signed many, many petitions to protect and support the environment, but this is the first one I have ever started. When I read that Coca-Cola had actually threatened to reduce or eliminate their support for the National Park system if the Grand Canyon banned the sale of disposable water bottles, I knew I had to do something.  Our national parks are owned by the citizens of the United States, whose taxes help maintain them.  The corporate world has no right to exercise this kind of coercion, which in schools is called "bullying."  At whatever level and in whatever form it needs to stop, and the only way to stop it is to stand up to it.

Devin Saez, Architect, Los Angeles, California (Devin's petition)

Hundreds of people around the U.S. have joined Stiv Wilson's petition on Change.org asking the National Park Service to re-instate its plastic bottle ban in the Grand Canyon. Signers are worried about the effects of plastic litter and pollution, and want the National Park Service to protect the beauty and wildlife of the Grand Canyon, one of America's greatest natural treasures. They are also angered that corporate interests, namely Coca-Cola's desire to keep making profits on bottled water, could take precedent over the public's interest in doing what's best for the park. Below is a statement from one petition signer we'd like to highlight. You can see many others by looking at the petition.

Wayne L. Hamilton, PhD. served America's national parks for more than two decades, as a research scientist at Yellowstone National Park and as a ranger at Zion National Park, among other positions. Since retiring from the Park Service in 1996, Wayne has worked as a research scientist in Baja California. His father, Warren F. Hamilton, was a Grand Canyon National Park Ranger between 1933 and 1940, and served as Superintendent of Everglades National Park and Zion National Park, and as the National Park Service's Assistant Regional Director of the Western Regional Office.

Post by Wayne L. Hamilton:

Hundreds of people around the U.S. have joined Stiv Wilson's petition on Change.org asking the National Park Service to re-instate its plastic bottle ban in the Grand Canyon. Signers are worried about the effects of plastic litter and pollution, and want the National Park Service to protect the beauty and wildlife of the Grand Canyon, one of America's greatest natural treasures. They are also angered that corporate interests, namely Coca-Cola's desire to keep making profits on bottled water, could take precedent over the public's interest in doing what's best for the park. Below is a statement from one petition signer we'd like to highlight. You can find many others by looking at the petition.

Erica Donnelly, Marine Biologist:

"I am a marine scientist in Santa Cruz, California who researches plastic ingestion in birds including Northern Fulmars, Albatrosses, and Shearwaters. We find plastic fragments from a variety of sources (both local and non-local) inside of bird stomachs.  Almost every bird we examine contains internal plastic that can effect the animal directly (internal blockages, abrasions, etc.) or indirectly (chemical toxicity from pollutants that adhere to plastics).

Seabirds are just one example of how are extensive use of disposable plastics is impacting wildlife. Micro-plastic infiltrate our ground water, water ways, and soil creating a national health issue, not just a localized problem on the coast.  We must get to the source of the issue and curtail our dependency on single use, disposable plastics.  Please help make a step in the right direction by banning plastic bottles."

You can join Erica and hundreds of others by signing Stiv Wilson's petition today.

The battle against the environmental impact of single-use plastic bags is a classic David vs. Goliath story: local individuals trying to reduce waste and save the planet are going up against the giants of petro-chemical companies bent on keeping the flow of fossil-fuel laden bags at an all time high. Take, for example, the owner of ChicoBags, a reusable bag company that was recently sued by three of the top US manufacturers of plastic bags—Hilex Poly LLC, Superbag, and Advance Polybag—in an attempt to discredit the reusable bag company's green merits.  (The recent settlement shows the plastic bag company's arguments were as flimsy as their bags).

Then, there are the numerous cities across the state of California that have passed such bans, including San Francisco, Malibu, Palo Alto, and Los Angeles County, but are now threatened with lawsuits by, you guessed it, Hilex Poly. Big time pressure from the industry shut down state-wide ban efforts in California this summer, and thwarted a city ban in Seattle last fall.

Last month, North Carolina wildlife agents stormed a Randolph County rehabilitation farm and killed nine tame deer on Wayne Kindley's property. Armed agents claimed to have a warrant authorizing their actions, saying the animals could have Chronic Wasting Disease.

Lab test results, however, were negative—none of the nine deer killed by wildlife officials had the disease.

Surprised? Don't be. CWD has never been found in North Carolina and the closest known case was documented in northern Virginia, hundreds of miles away. In addition, seven of the nine killed deer were fallow deer, a species not susceptible  to CWD.

So why is it the North Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission's policy to storm a farm and slaughter tame deer, some of which were in rehabilitation?

That's just what more than 20,000 people around the world want to know as they push to change the way game wardens operate within the state. Unfortunately, state officials are either attempting to ignore the issue or outright pushing back, threatening local businesses to take down petitions.

Even before test results showed the deer to be free of disease, local community members rallied against the senseless slaughter. Jo Henderson, who had raised one of the fawns killed on the farm, is currently collecting signatures in town, while thousands more sign the petition on Change.org, demanding an investigation into the killings and protections for tame deer.

The response from community members has been massive, but at a recent public meeting with the commission, discussions of the deer killings was decidedly pushed-aside for "a later time." Even though Henderson was invited by wildlife officials to attend the meeting, the commission closed the meeting without public comment.

But Henderson and others refuse to back down. As officials fled from the quickly adjourned meeting, Henderson shouted "Shame on you" and vowed to continue her fight to change the law. Meanwhile, more killings have taken place. You can help protect deer by signing the petition here.

 Photo credit: ZapTheDingbat

Iraq war veteran Mark Grapin's fight to keep a simple treehouse he built for his two sons in Fairfax County, Virginia has made national news, catching the attention of people across the country disturbed by local officials' orders that he remove the structure due to an obscure zoning technicality.

It certainly caught the attention of fellow Army officer Cameron Dunbar-Yamaguchi,  who saw the news from his hometown in Portland, Oregon.

Cameron came to Change.org to start a petition to the Fairfax County Zoning Board. When I asked him what motivated him to take this action, he said he was especially moved because the treehouse was a promise Grapin made before deploying to Iraq:

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This is an October 3rd, 2011 press release distributed regarding the artist Saber's End Mural Moratorium campaign on Change.org. You can support the campaign by signing the petition or buying a t-shirt to help Saber raise funds for this creative protest. The petition will be delivered at a planning commission meeting this fall.

More than 5,000 people, including 2,000 area residents, have signed a petition on Change.org protesting a Los Angeles policy that effectively bans public artwork.

The surge of support follows a daring skywriting protest in September by Saber, a prominent L.A. artist featured in the Museum of Contemporary Art’s national public art exhibition this year. His associate and friend Piper Severance launched the campaign on Change.org in conjunction with the attention-getting stunt.

“I’m in this campaign for the long haul,” said Saber, who is also selling t-shirts with Seventh Letter to fund this creative protest. “Los Angeles public art is under attack. I love this city, so my goal is to help Los Angeles reclaim its title as the world’s mural capital."

More than 3,000 people have joined a campaign on Change.org calling on the University of Michigan to commit to using solar energy in its football stadium.

The campaign, created by the Ann Arbor-based Ecology Center, follows a growing NFL trend of renewable energy-powered national sports stadiums, including the homes of the Philadelphia Eagles, Arizona Cardinals, New England Patriots, and Washington Redskins. Activists hope the petition on Change.org will lead the University of Michigan, home to the Big 10 Wolverines and the largest-capacity stadium in North America, to become the first big-name college football school to join in.

“The UM stadium has the potential to be the largest athletic venue in North America with solar panels, which is fitting with the University’s claim to be ‘the leaders and the best’,” said Monica Patel, policy specialist at the Ecology Center. “Even though the electricity generated won’t solve the climate crisis, it will go a long way in terms of solar energy education — just think of the awareness raised among the 100,000+ fans there on Game Day, and millions of others who tune in. The move would also give real support to Michigan's growing solar energy industry."

By Candice Norcross, a resident of Grand Rapids, MI and creator of a Change.org petition to protect the Thornapple River

Forty-one volunteers arrived at Lincoln Park in Ada, Michigan for the annual River Clean-Up Day. The early risers pulled blue shirts over their hoodies and gathered at the covered bridge, ready to scour the banks for garbage. Joggers — with knowing smiles — watched as we carried the canoes to the water's edge and started on our way.

I had never been to this particular river before, as it's about 10 miles from my own corner of Grand Rapids. However, I recently read several news articles in regards to the Gerald R. Ford International Airport and its stormwater dilemma. I was inspired to launch a petition on Change.org to protect the river from the airport's new proposal to use the river as a dump site for de-icing fluid.