WHO’s Statement is a Game Changer

Make no mistake.   The decision by the World Health Organization on Tuesday to classify non-ionizing radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation as “possibly carcinogenic to humans” is an absolute game changer for our movement. This seemingly cautious statement by the world’s pre-eminent health organization should ring loud alarm bells around the world.  Despite backroom industry influence and widespread conservatism, the slow-to-react beast was finally forced to act- as the walls of wireless damage closed in.

Wireless technology is something most of us have taken for granted for quite a while now.  Someone said the other day, “I don’t even remember when they introduced cell phones.  All of a sudden everyone was just using them.”  Therein lies the crux.  We just took the phone we were handed.  We didn’t ask questions.  We trusted that any authority that would allow this product to be sold would not do so without reasonable assurances of safety.  It is now clear that that misplaced trust has been betrayed, and people are dying because of it.

The truth is that our government allowed (even promoted) a technology whose effects on biological living systems we really knew very little about. There’s capitalism for you.  Life really isn’t that important.  It’s all about the money.  You are expendable. So- apparently- is the planet.

The WHO’s decision, and the large number of studies that led to it are suddenly opening up a whole new set of questions about how we use wireless- questions that people wouldn’t have dared to whisper- even last week.

For example:

1)  Shouldn’t  there be laws against someone else’s wi-fi entering your home?  Your neighbor would not be allowed to douse your living room with chloroform (now in the same ‘possibly carcinogenic’ category as EMF radiation).  Why should they be able to inflict wi-fi on you- particularly if it prevents you from carrying out basic life activities- like- er- sleeping?

2)  Shouldn’t public buildings such as libraries and public transportation ban wireless emitting devices such as wi-fi routers, cell phones and iPads?  A bus full of 100 people on their cell phones- with all their signals bouncing around the metal chassis- is like being forced to sit inside a microwave oven.  We are entitled to accessible transportation and public services, without being exposed to a carcinogen.  Wireless makes these services inaccessible to the growing number of electrosensitive individuals.  There’s definitely a lawsuit here if officials fail to do their job.

3) Isn’t it now just as morally acceptable to ask someone to turn off their cell phone in a public place as asking them to extinguish that cigarette?

We wouldn’t be surprised to see regulations coming forward over the next few years restricting cell phone use in the same way that smoking has been further and further marginalized, from sections in restaurants to banned inside even bars, to prohibitions around doorways, and now bans in entire neighborhoods.

So where does all this leave the “smart” meter rollout?  PG&E and other utilities have pointed to the World Health Organization to reassure its customers of the safety of RF radiation.  Now that the WHO has declared that such radiation is ‘possibly carcinogenic’ and independent analyses have pegged “smart” meter radiation at 100x the exposure of a cell phone, the wireless mesh network is looking more and more like a dangerous mistake.  The utilities that launched this program without even consulting us- arrogantly refusing  to consider the human or environmental health impacts- should be the ones to pick up the pieces and pay the tab for this debacle.  Not the ratepayers.  Not the victims who are living like animals running from this vicious technology; living in their cars or in the woods.

The East Bay Express reports PG&E’s words a year ago:

“The federal government and the international health community, including the World Health Organization,” PG&E said at the time, “have deemed the low-level radio frequency on which PG&E’s SmartMeters rely to be completely safe.”

But not anymore.

David Baker, Energy reporter for the SF Chronicle wrote:

‘Given the potential consequences for public health of this classification and findings, it is important that additional research be conducted into the long-term, heavy use of mobile phones,’ said Christopher Wild, the WHO’s director. ‘Pending the availability of such information, it is important to take pragmatic measures to reduce exposure such as hands-free devices or texting.’

That’s similar to the arguments made by many California city councils that have called for a SmartMeter moratorium. If the science isn’t settled, they argue, shouldn’t we stop installing the meters until it is?

They now have more ammunition to press their case.”

To many of us who have experienced firsthand the health damage caused by wireless, the WHO declaration is just one more brick in the wall of evidence that this technology hurts people.  But to most people, this is a huge wake up call that has received widespread coverage in the mainstream media- as if this is a new thing.  Just like gradual acceptance of climate change over the past couple of decades, governments, industry and institutions will brush aside the critics, pretending they are now the ones to protect you from the dangers and that they have the situation under control.  They will promote new devices to shield your skull from radiation- the light cigarettes and electric cars of the wireless world.  But in the end we know what we need to do.  We just need to quit the addiction.  We need to re-wire.  And our lives will be better for it.

This entry was posted in Cell phones, Citizen rebellion, Climate Change, Democracy, Electro-Hyper-Sensitivity, Health studies, PG&E, World Health Organization. Bookmark the permalink.

8 Responses to WHO’s Statement is a Game Changer

  1. Soapbox Jill says:

    Great post and info. I warn you folks, though, a lot of Americans could care less about the WHO’s opinions. They want their gadgets at any price, and feel they have a right to them. They believe that since we already have so many wireless everyday devices, a few more won’t hurt. And they think people who are sensitive to cell phones, smart meters, etc., are nuts.

    The truth is lots of people are already addicted to their cell phones. Remember nicotene? And the convenience and power of immediate data. Wow. How can we live without it? Easy, I say, and I worked as a librarian for two decades. I am no luddite, but when a technology creates health risks, and everyone is forced to be exposed involuntarily, it is time to fight. Our backs are against the wall.

    Secondhand cigarette smoke was nothing compared to ambient rf because it did not go through walls for miles. I am a person who generally likes to live and let live, and people have their fun stuff, but that does not work when the fun stuff holds serious health risks and actually makes some of us immediately ill.

    Keep up the good fight!

    I was just told my gym cannot turn the wifi off when I come, despite a letter from my doctor. They said their computer system would not allow wifi to be off.

  2. Bruce Bowen says:

    PG&E’s reputation for caring about public health is not exactly shining. Several blogs/news releases have indicated that hexavalent chromium is once again spreading out (600 yards) past the “protective barrier” in Hinkley Calif. And the tragedy of the San Bruno gas explosion (8 dead and 38 homes destoyed) is still a solemn reminder that PG&E does not care much about public health. People have been calling for PG&E executives to be jailed. I agree. Who made PG&E god?

  3. It’s quite sad to see how little effect the WHO reclassification has made for most people, especially those already suffering due to second-hand RF.

    Here in Vermont, while we’re struggling to recover from a serious natural disaster, few people have the time or energy to worry about “smart grid”. In fact, some have already suggested that we’d be recovering more quickly if we had Smart Meters.

    http://smartermeters.blogspot.com/2011/09/may-31-2011.html

    The denial runs deep.

    • Redi Kilowatt says:

      Nobody in this country has a smart power grid, but do you have the so called “smart” meters in Vermont ?
      If so, they will not help your recovery at all, or make you power grid “smart”.
      The upgrading of the power grids in this country are something that is in the works and will cost at least $300 billion dollars, and take at least 10 years to complete, once they get started, and they have not yet started.

      • It is fair to say that some parts of Vermont, where substations, power lines, or right of ways were totally demolished by flash flooding caused by TS Irene, sections of the grid will be brand new and, presumably, as “smart” as possible.

        From what I’ve read, Vermont is the only state in which every utility has received matching federal funds to install Smart Meters. Utilities will always want to equate Smart Meter installations with making the whole grid smarter, even if that’s a bit of a stretch.

        One utility, Vermont Electric Coop, has already employed Smart Meters, although they use the powerlines for data transmission. Here’s an op-ed from the CEO of the utility:

        “We have found that the cellular network is not reliable enough for the demands of the smart grid and VEC is aggressively collaborating with telecommunications providers to replace that communications medium with fiber optic lines. In other words, cellular networks can be used as part of the smart grid, but they are not the only option. In fact, they are not necessarily the preferred option. … While the rest of Vermont’s utilities have not yet chosen their smart grid technologies, I suspect that they will mainly use pre-existing or pre-planned networks. In this case, there would not be additional radio-frequency penetration for the smart grid beyond what will be occurring with the ubiquitous rollout of the cell phone network.” (1/18/2011) – http://www.vermontelectric.coop/news-center/197-hazards-of-the-smart-grid

        “Though smart grid technology has been introduced in California and other states, Vermont’s largest utilities will be the first to rely on a “wireless canopy” to implement the system.” (7/21/2011) – http://vtdigger.org/2011/07/21/gmp-vtel-and-cvps-pledge-support-for-broadband-expansion/

        So much for employing existing and tested methods….

  4. Pingback: WE SAY NO FEE: CHARGE THE UTILITY | Stop Smart Meters!

  5. Nora Davidson says:

    What about freedom from other human influence? Soldiers died in the trenches during WW2 supposedly to free us from the domination of other dictatorial humans.
    Imposing a carcinogenic 2 way surveillance transmitter on every household in the “free” world surpasses even Orwellian dreams.

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