Since July 2010 Stop Smart Meters! has been on the case, investigating the thousands of reports of adverse health effects from (not so smart) meters, and exposing threats, spying, lying, and cheating by utility company executives. They truly are a greedy, nasty little bunch.
SVNASM, circa July 2010
How We Started
We started out last summer as Scotts Valley Neighbors Against ‘Smart’ Meters- a few families in the conservative enclave of Scotts Valley in the Santa Cruz Mountains who got together to form a grassroots group and keep the meters out of our town. As Stop Smart Meters! we have taken the fight national (even global) and have been unleashing a continuous series of blistering (and well deserved) attacks on this diabolical program from day one. The more we’ve found out about “smart” meters and the “smart” grid- it seems- the more we detest them. While there are many organizations doing fantastic work on the wireless, privacy, consumer and environmental protection fronts, fighting “smart” meters is all we do.
What We Do Now
Stop Smart Meters! has become the media spokespeople for the growing national anti-smart meter movement, completing over 300 interviews in just the last year alone with media outlets including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, LA Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Examiner, industry news and blogs, as well as most Bay Area TV and radio stations. Our emphasis has always been on speaking up for the real victims of this ill-conceived program (that is– all of us), and a strict adherence to scientific evidence- citing health reports from respected authorities like the NIH, WHO, and the Council of Europe.
Through our uncompromising approach that includes no-apologies peaceful direct action campaigns with meticulously researched and documented scientific data, and a professional approach to public relations, we’ve moved the message to some of the most influential media outlets in the country. “Smart” grid and utility companies hate us. And we’re doing it all without using wireless technology.
We’ve traveled all over the state to investigate “smart” meter damage to human, plant, and animal health. We’ve spread awareness about these diabolical devices, and provided resources and advice to local groups who are fighting the onslaught, often carrying out our own media coverage of the movement where it would otherwise be lacking- such as coverage of the plight of EHS people which has largely been missing from mainstream media accounts of the smart meter debacle.
There’s no question that this movement has unified people across the political spectrum behind a common purpose- we have been able to get the Tea Party to sit in a room with the Green Party and realize we all have more in common than we thought. We are all alarmed at the decline of civil liberties. We are all alarmed at the ecocide taking place. We want our families and friends to remain healthy and happy. What’s more important than that after all?
In part because of our work, and due to the many other grassroots activists working tirelessly and with little recognition in their communities, the tide of public opinion has begun to turn against the “smart” grid, even prompting industry insiders to ask: (Oh Sh*t) “What if these meters actually DO harm health?”
Direct Action Gets the Goods
Stop Smart Meters! Director Joshua Hart gets arrested at a peaceful civil d demo in Capitola on June 21st 2011
Stop Smart Meters! and our supporters have carried out a number of successful direct actions over the past year, including presenting former PG&E CEO Peter Darbee with a “DumbMeter” during his speech, sitting down to lunch with the director of PG&E’s “Smart” Meter program, dumping a pile of “devil dollars” into the laps of PG&E executives at a CPUC meeting to protest their “cop out plan”, confronting FCC chair Julius Genachowski about the agency’s inadequate wireless safety standards, physically blocking installations in Marin County, shutting down an installation yard in Santa Cruz County, and more. And we’re not going away.
And the Ask…
We don’t ask for your support very often- we’d much rather focus on the work we do- engaging in political debate, seeking out the truth, and holding the feet of the utility/telecom industry to the fire. Thanks to the fact that we remain a grassroots, crowd funded organization, we are beholden to no one but you- unlike many corporate environmental organizations who put profit and preconceptions above our health and our environment.
Pacific Gas and Electric Company- an investor owned utility company (IOU- yes they do!) in Northern California- is currently forcing “smart” meters onto communities like Santa Cruz who are so opposed to them that they are willing to pass laws banning the meters.
As these threats increase, so do our costs. We printed and distributed over 5000 flyers in Santa Cruz County in the last week alone- to warn people to keep PG&E (or Wellington Energy) out of their communities. We’re facing potentially mounting legal fees. And new outreach materials are being prepared as we speak. We need to take it to the next level, and we need your energy and financial support to continue what we’re doing- even ramp it up.
Please click here or on the green watering can above and donate what you can today. Even $5 helps. But please give what you are able to. If you read and appreciate our activism, analysis, and video coverage, please take a minute and help us keep it going. If you can’t donate (or even if you can!), consider volunteering!
THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR YOUR TREMENDOUS SUPPORT OF OUR WORK- we could not do it without you! -SSM!
