Sure, but what do the experts say?

International experts on wireless health present their findings on Nov. 18th at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco

If you’ve been speaking to friends and family about the health threat of smart meters and other wireless technology, you’ve probably been met with some skepticism.  It’s always hard to change one’s worldview overnight.  It seems that men in particular LOVE their gadgets. To begin to accept that they may be harmed by their beloved iPhone is quite a struggle for many.  All we can do is to plant the seeds that will later sprout into a greater understanding and compassion for those who are being harmed by this technology.

The Electromagnetic Health Forum at the San Francisco Commonwealth Club on Nov. 18th brought together some of the world’s most respected experts on wireless impacts on health.   You can watch the entire program online here.  Highly recommended viewing for a rainy day.

Posted in Environmental Concerns, Health studies | Leave a comment

How Do They Sleep At Night?

President of the CPUC Michael Peevey- Hurting CA Families

It’s a good question, posed by members of the public out loud yesterday morning after the CPUC voted 4-1 to deny the EMF Safety Network’s petition to halt ‘smart’ meter installations based on flimsy and distorted evidence provided by PG&E.

Yesterday’s decision flies in the face of health complaints by thousands of California residents, demands to halt the program by 22 local governments, the CPUC’s own Division of Ratepayer Advocates, and hundreds of peer-reviewed scientific studies showing health impacts from wireless radiation at levels far below what is emitted by the ‘smart’ meter.

By parroting PG&E’s misrepresentations about the level of radiation from their new meters, and denying the growing evidence that human electro-sensitivity is a real and growing threat, President of the CPUC Michael Peevey showed that his commission has become nothing more than an arm of the utility companies, unable or unwilling to protect the public’s health and safety.  After all, for them to admit that wireless is a major health threat is to undermine the profits of major telecommunications and utility companies.   Shatter the illusion of a wireless future.  And it is clear that the CPUC would rather bury its head in the sand like a giant awkward flightless bird, unwilling to adapt to a changed world, forcing the people of California to pay a heavy price for its denial.

The truth is that ‘smart’ meters emit sharp bursts of radiation every 45 seconds, 24 hours a day, at roughly 2-3 times the intensity of a cell phone.   Given that wireless technology is being implicated by researchers in a wide range of health impacts, it is pure recklessness to place these devices on everyone’s home, in some cases co-located in banks of 30-40 meters inches from where children are sleeping.  The commission yesterday could have put a halt to further installation pending the release of a report commissioned by the State Assembly on the health impacts of smart meters, but instead they chose to place corporate profits above the welfare of CA families.

In light of a regulatory agency that is hostile to human health and the environment, Stop Smart Meters! is urging people to protect themselves and their communities using non-violent civil disobedience where necessary.  People are asking what we do next.   The answer is very simple.   We organize with our neighbors and get in their way.

Wellington Energy- PG&E’s installation company- is not welcome in California.   The health of our children is simply not negotiable.

Posted in Cell phones, Citizen rebellion, CPUC, Democracy, Health studies, PG&E | 3 Comments

Smart Meter Victims Speak Out

Stop Smart Meters! organized a press conference after the Electromagnetic Health Forum on Nov. 18th to allow those who have suffered from wireless technology to share their stories.    Three people- David, a real estate agent from West Marin, Sandi, a paralegal from Orange County, and Sarah, a clinical nutritionist from Fairfax, share their stories.

Thanks to our friends at the Environmental Options Network for producing the video.

Posted in Cell phones, Citizen rebellion, Health studies | 3 Comments

Opt Out is Not Enough

Having an individual opt out is especially pointless for apartment dwellers who face exposure from banks of meters like this one in Scotts Valley- can you spot the one resident who had advance warning and refused installation?

One of the worst things about the ‘smart’ meter program is that it is mandatory- the new radiating meters are being forced on us whether we like it or not.  There is currently no opting out for individuals, businesses, or entire communities- even in cases of severe health risk, according to the CPUC and PG&E.  They have even insinuated lately that they will force this meter on to your home- if necessary- escorted by armed guards.    Sounds a tad Orwellian to us.

Well, on Friday, after being battered by bad press for weeks, there were reports in the Bay Area dailies that PG&E is considering a ‘smart meter compromise.’   Something, PG&E CEO Peter Darbee stated (in his reassuring corporate voice) ‘that everybody can live with.’  Has the sleeping giant come to its senses?  Has the devil of Hexavalent Chromium and San Bruno Fiery Death decided that radiating the entire population may be bad for their corporate earnings, if not their conscience? Have they decided to hard wire their meters?  I mean it’s not like they really needed wireless, mobile technology in the first place as the meters are ATTACHED TO YOUR HOUSE.

What is such a ‘compromise’ likely to look like?  PG&E may offer some sort of individual opt out- perhaps requiring a doctor’s note so that most people won’t go to the trouble.   Yet this would force the company and the CPUC to admit that electrohypersensitivity is real phenomenon that people are suffering, something that they have been in deep pathological denial about.  Something that if the general public became aware of- could blow open the whole EMF health  scandal and spell big financial trouble for telecom and utility companies.

Even Michael Peevey, president of the utilities commission, insinuated that everyone is just making it up.  In the Chron, he “suggested to PG&E executives that they find some way to address the concerns of people who SAY they suffer from ‘electrosensitivity.'”

those people they're all just SAYING they suffer from electrosensitivity, but really they're just pretending, just to mess with my smart meter pet project that's going to leave me the legacy of being the guy who built the smart grid......Wahhhhh.

The truth is that opting out is not a “compromise we can all live with.”   For an electrosensitive individual, living exposed to your neighbors’ meters is just as bad as living with your own.  Bathing our communities in even more microwave radiation than they suffer from already, with a few ‘opt outs’ just will not cut it.  It’s not only humans that are suffering.   Nature is paying the price as well.  This week, PC World reported that Wi-Fi (that uses the same frequencies as the ‘smart’ meter) has been sickening trees.

What about entire communities opting out?   That seems like a more reasonable solution, right?   Wrong.   Bottom line, if there are health risks to EMF radiation (and there are!) then no community in California should have to suffer them, whether they have citizens and local governments who have read the latest scientific reports or not.

The only ‘compromise’ we will accept is if the CPUC immediately halts further installations in the state pending open, honest public health hearings, disables the wireless components on the already installed meters, hard wires any remote connections, and ensures strict privacy standards.  Then, they should refund the rate increase that the CPUC originally granted to pay for the meters, and come sobbing and pleading for our forgiveness for polluting the state, blowing up families in San Bruno to make a few more bucks, recklessly endangering the health of people and nature throughout California by inflicting unprecedented levels of EMF, attempting to manipulate the democratic process to trick us into strengthening their monopoly, and then having their senior officials falsify their identities trying to sneak into private discussion forums and then claiming it was some kind of public outreach exercise.

Darbee and the rest of those lying corporate weasels should come to the California public, begging us to forgive their arrogance and greed, their sinister lying and deceit.

And remembering those who have died or been hurt by PG&E’s corporate greed, we will bid them adieu as we reclaim control over our power, implementing ‘Community Choice Aggregation‘ (CCA) programs throughout the state and sending PG&E packing for good.

Now THAT’S smart!

Posted in Citizen rebellion, CPUC, Democracy, Environmental Concerns, Health studies, PG&E, Privacy | 7 Comments

“Something is Wrong with the Air”

Smart Meters installed along Hwy 9 in Boulder Creek, Santa Cruz County

We’ve been hearing more reports of health impacts from all over California.  Some of the stories make us really angry- what kind of people would inflict this kind of suffering on others?  What kind of government allows this to happen to its own citizens?

From A. E. in San Diego 28 yrs old:
“We recently had our smart meters installed, three of which our on our wall, for the three units on our lot. I have a super healthy routine and was drastically improving my health and wellness. I am Vegan, non smoker, non drinker, I record all of my food intake, exercise avidly and slept regularly from 10 pm until 7am. I began to get unexplainable huge rashes on my face. My doctor freaked out and couldn’t believe the photos and ordered labs immediately, he was sure I had Lupus or Rheumatory Athritis. He sent me to a Rheumatologist ASAP, It then started with the aches and pains, the super dry lips and a loud squealing in my right ear. Even my teeth hurt. Then the buzzing sound intermittently mixes with the high pitch squealing noise in my ear, followed by extreme exhaustion or fatigue in random parts of the day or evening, to where I couldn’t even stand. The headaches make me feel like I want to die. I can’t sleep until 5 or 6 am and pop back up at 7 am. I am nauseas, and my ear in is extreme pain. I have feelings as if the ground or furniture is moving or being bumped. I get dizzy and have problems orientating myself when I go from standing to sitting or vice versa. My 1200 calorie diet that I record every meal has turned into a 300 calorie diet because I’m too sick to eat. I am having to drink meal replacements because the more I cook in the kitchen the worse I get. My husband complained of feeling sick, back pain, headaches and an electric-like pulse or shock-like feeling that darts up his body through his brain. When it happens he jumps. It has happened three times now.

The downstair neighbor moved because of her sudden onset of symptoms that began at the same time. Our DVD player now cannot reach a signal on the TV (says no signal) despite the player actually being a part of the TV, all in one piece. My eyes burn and weep full of tears with a mental cloud I can’t shake. My stomach turns upside down it feels and  I feel a burning sensation on parts of my body. I have missed about 80% of my work schedule and am rapidly deteriorating. I just kept saying, “something is wrong with the air…….”

A.E.’s full testimony and dozens more at the EMF Safety Network.

Posted in Environmental Concerns, Health studies, interference | 12 Comments