In 2009, the United States Forest Service (USFS) proposed a logging sale known as the Goose Project, to thin forests surrounding the community of McKenzie Bridge, Oregon. Concerned Bend, Oregon MoveOn member Jerry Gilmour started a MoveOn Petition to the USFS demanding that a non-biased, accurate environmental impact statement be prepared and released to the public before the project could be implemented.
After the tragic shootings in Aurora, Colorado, and Newtown, Connecticut, activists across the country have been working on increasing gun protections. Two bills were introduced in the Colorado Legislature that prohibited large-capacity ammunition magazines and required background checks for gun transfers. MoveOn member Bruce Hoppe started a MoveOn Petition urging the legislature to pass the bill.
The Bank of Hawaii’s proposed closure of its Samoan offices would have been devastating to American Samoa’s economy, leaving them with no bank. So Drew Astolfi of the organization Faith Action for Community Equity (FACE) created a MoveOn Petition urging the bank not to pull out without a public hearing.
The U.S. Navy was set to begin an explosives and sonar training program off the coast of Southern California in 2013. According to estimates, the use of high-frequency underwater sound for testing would deafen more than 15,900 whales and dolphins and kill 1,800 more over the next five years. So MoveOn member Linda Storey started a MoveOn Petition asking the Navy to stop the training program.
When legislation was introduced that would allow climate denial to be taught in Arizona public schools, Vincent Pawlowski started a MoveOn Petition, along with 350.org and Forecast the Facts, urging committee chairwoman Kimberly Yee to kill the bill.
When states had the opportunity to expand Medicaid benefits by accepting national funds through Obamacare, several tea party governors resisted. So New Mexico MoveOn member Robbyne Jones created a MoveOn Petition calling on Governor Susana Martinez to carry out the Medicaid expansion. Meanwhile, in Michigan and Ohio, Fran Brennan and Dan Heck from Working America started petitions calling on Governors Rick Snyder and John Kasich to accept the funding.
Over the past decade, enrollment at for-profit colleges has grown exponentially. Mississippi is host to dozens of for-profit colleges. While they are regulated by the state, enforcement is uneven, and standards across schools are inconsistent. To bring attention to this issue, Whitney Barkley started a MoveOn Petition demanding that the Mississippi Legislature tighten regulations on private colleges.
In the race for New York State Senate between Democrat Cecilia Tkaczyk and Republican George Amedore, with hundreds of ballots left to be counted, the final margin of 37 votes allowed a NY state judge to certify Amedore as the winner. By failing to count the remaining ballots and failing to address technical problems, voters were disenfranchised by the Board of Elections’ improper guidance. In response, Carole Furman and Barbara Bravo started a MoveOn Petition demanding every vote to be counted.
When the Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed House Bill 934, a voter ID restriction, the legislation guaranteed many eligible voters would be turned away at the polls. A Pittsburgh teacher, Steven Signer, a Pittsburgh teacher, started a MoveOn Petition opposing the law.
Solar power has tremendous potential to create jobs, grow local businesses, and protect the environment in Washington, D.C., where air pollution ranks among the worst in the country. Anya Schoolman and her organization Mt. Pleasant Solar Cooperative started a MoveOn Petition supporting legislation to require PEPCO, the city’s main utility company, to use homegrown renewable power and help put more solar on the rooftops of our nation’s capital.