“Something is Wrong with the Air”

Posted on November 15, 2010 by Josh Hart

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

Pressure Mounts for a Smart Meter Moratorium in CA

Posted on November 12, 2010 by Josh Hart

33 meters co-located on one wall at a senior center in Capitola, CA (Photo K Nevis)

What a week.   PG&E Senior Director of the statewide ‘Smart’ Meter program William Devereaux resigns from his post after it is revealed that he pretended to be “Ralph” the anti-smart meter activist from Oakland.  All this in order to gain access to a private discussion list of the EMF Safety Network, who happen to be in the midst of a legal challenge to PG&E’s program due to health impacts.    Spying on activists opposing your new metering program?  Immoral.   Spying on the internal legal strategy of your opponents in a court case?  Most definitely immoral and illegal.

Unfortunately for PG&E, “Ralph’s” real name was revealed and we went to the press with the e-mail, launching the smart meter health scandal back into the front pages and ramping up the pressure on the CPUC and the state legislature to do something and prevent any further harm to California families.

It is now becoming clear that Devereaux did not act alone, as PG&E would have you believe, but that this spying and deception was part of a larger strategy amongst PG&E senior executives to infiltrate and disrupt grassroots activists working toward a moratorium in the state.   The CPUC has now launched an investigation into the behavior of PG&E, and all this will hopefully come out into the public soon.

In the meantime, this series of events has significantly strengthened calls for a moratorium.  After all, Bill Devereaux was the public official who has reassured cities and counties all over the state that the ‘smart’ meter program is beneficial, safe, and accurate.   If he lied about his identity, why would he have any qualms lying about the ‘smart’ meter program?

It’s one thing to dismiss the claims of hundreds of citizens who are reporting health impacts such as heart palpitations, headaches, and ringing in the ears.   It’s quite another to dismiss 21 local governments, each made up of intelligent people, who have weighed the evidence on both sides, looked at the scientific studies, and decided that the program needs to be halted pending hearings on health damage from the rf emissions.  This uprising in California is making waves nationwide and just recently two towns in Maine passed ordinances against ‘smart’ meter installations.

Even if there were just a 5% chance that there were going to be long term health damage caused by the meters, isn’t that enough to pause the program and make sure that these things are safe, particularly when they are being installed on every home and business in California.

As it stands right now, the CPUC is trying to save face and protect their cronies in the utility and telecom industries.   This is an increasingly untenable position, and is resulting not only in potentially thousands of people being sickened in their own homes, but what I predict will be long term damage to the (already eroded) reputation of state government’s ability to protect the public interest.

Posted in Citizen rebellion, CPUC, Democracy, Health studies, PG&E | 2 Comments

PG&E Senior Director of ‘Smart’ Meter Program Poses as ‘Ralph’ the anti-smart meter activist….

Posted on November 8, 2010 by Josh Hart

"Ralph"

Chronicle Article

SJ Mercury Article

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                     Contact: Joshua Hart, Stop Smart Meters! November 8th 2010                                                                 joshuanoahhart[at]gmail[dot]com

DIRECTOR OF PG&E’S SMART METER PROGRAM CAUGHT FALSIFYING HIS IDENTITY

William Devereaux Infiltrated Health Advocacy Group in Order to Gather Intelligence

San Francisco- William Devereaux, Senior Director of Pacific Gas and Electric’s ‘Smart’ Meter program has been caught falsifying his identity in a covert attempt to access information from a group of citizens opposing the new meters.  The group has been identifying and collecting evidence of widespread health problems, meter inaccuracies, electrical interference and customer information privacy problems caused by PG&E’s wireless ‘Smart’ Meters.

Devereaux, who has testified to numerous local governments throughout California and made claims about the meters’ safety and accuracy, has been using a fake name on other activist listservs for months. This may explain how PG&E contractors Wellington Energy knew to evacuate their installation yard in Rohnert Park before a protest planned by neighborhood groups on October 28th.  But on Thursday, November 4, Devereaux pushed his luck and was caught lying about his own identity and hiding his position with PG&E.  Apparently assuming that his name would be hidden, Devereaux signed his e-mail to Sandi Maurer, moderator of the EMF Safety Coalition, “Ralph.”  However, his e-mail program revealed the sender’s true identity:

On Nov 4, 2010, at 3:23 PM, William Devereaux <manasota99@gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Sandi,

> Sorry for the delay in getting back to you, I’ve been travelling a lot.  I live in Oakland where Smart >meters have been sweeping across town and wanted to learn more about them and join the conversation to >see what I can do to help out here.

> Thanks,

> Ralph

“This is not a single indiscretion, but rather typical of the false information that PG&E has publicized, fabricating advantages for customers.” said Ellen Marks of the Environmental Health Trust.  “Contrary to PG&E claims, we will face significantly increased utility bills, collection of private data revealing information about events occurring inside our home, and exposure to powerful spikes of microwave radiation 24 hours a day through our brains and bodies.”

The deception by one of PG&E’s top officials is only the latest in a series of unethical tactics used to force ‘Smart’ Meters on an increasingly skeptical public.  PG&E has been ripping off ‘do not install signs’ on meters, and threatening to cut off the gas and electricity supply to elderly residents of Santa Rosa- even as winter approaches- unless they accept a ‘Smart’ Meter.  The company has also censored public comments on its Facebook page, deleting references to peer-reviewed scientific studies showing health damage from RadioFrequency (RF) radiation at levels far below those from the ‘Smart’ Meter.

PG&E’s meter program represents the largest system technology roll out in the history of California, yet they have not even done a basic Environmental Impact Report, which could have caught the massive violations of health, privacy invasion and increased costs to customers.  The meters have been plagued with problems since the beginning, starting with widespread reports of inflated bills, privacy violations, electrical interference and reports of health issues from residents who have received the new meters.   ‘Smart’ Meters use microwave radiation (similar to a cell phone) to transmit customer data back to the utility, and are being installed just as the public learns of evidence that brain tumors and other health damage can be traced to similar wireless devices.   The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) which sanctioned PG&E’s $2.2 billion program to install 10 million new meters throughout California at the expense of ratepayers, has not allowed individuals to opt out even in cases of severe health impacts.

Nearly two dozen local governments* have called for a moratorium.  The State’s Division of Ratepayer Advocates (DRA) last month also demanded public hearings be held to study potential health risks resulting from exposure to radiation from the meters.

According to Joshua Hart of Stop Smart Meters!, “This fraud and covert espionage against the people of California, carried out by the Director of the ‘Smart’ Meter Program in California, should immediately force a moratorium on ‘Smart’ Meter installation and open up a full independent State Legislative investigation of the entire PG&E ‘Smart’ Meter Program.”

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* California local governments demanding a moratorium include: the City and County of San Francisco, Santa Cruz and Marin Counties, Sonoma County Supervisor Efren Carrillo, the cities of Sebastopol, Berkeley, Cotati, Fairfax, Santa Cruz, Piedmont, Scotts Valley, Capitola, Watsonville, Sausalito, San Anselmo, Belvedere, Monte Sereno, Novato, Richmond, Ross, Bolinas, and Camp Meeker

Posted in Citizen rebellion, CPUC, Democracy, Environmental Concerns, PG&E, Privacy | 3 Comments

Cell Phone Brain Tumor Victims Speak Out

Posted on November 5, 2010 by Josh Hart

This press conference, held at the beginning of October at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco to coincide with the release of Dr. Devra Davis’ new book Disconnect, is heartbreaking to watch.   These families who have suffered from the effects of cell phone radiation are a warning to our society- either we take the threat of microwave radiation emitted by all mobile devices (and the infamous ‘smart’ meter) seriously or we risk a future where these cases become painfully commonplace amongst our friends, family, or even ourselves.  The information is being covered by the media, but will we listen, or just deny the truth and disconnect from those who are trying to warn us?

When health damaging microwave radiation is contained in a device that is pushed by industry and allowed to be sold without warning labels by government, that is negligence.  When it is forced on every single home and business in the state of California, with no right to opt out even if you are suffering terribly from the scientifically documented (and growing) affliction of electrosensitivity, that is criminal.

Call your state Assemblymember/ Senator right now and get all your friends to do the same.   We demand an immediate moratorium on any further ‘smart’ meter installations.  Get contact info for your state legislator here:

Assembly:  http://asm.ca.gov/defaulttext.asp

Senate: http://senate.ca.gov/

Posted in Cell phones, Citizen rebellion, Health studies | Leave a comment

Stinson Beach Fights Back

Posted on November 3, 2010 by Josh Hart

Resistance against PG&E is growing as people gather in the streets and confront Wellington employees in this otherwise sleepy coastal California town.  Don’t give up your power to the power company!  Remember  this is supposed to be a democracy.   Don’t let them take advantage of you and your community!  Fight back!

Posted in Citizen rebellion, Democracy, PG&E | Leave a comment