Dr. Weeks’ Comment: The fact that smart meter installations were funded in part by the Department of Homeland Security ought to have anyone with privacy issues concerned but increasingly we learn how dangerous they are to heath. We first warned about this 6 years ago... the data is more damning today. Shame on those who put profits above public health. Always be suspicious about the hidden costs of any new “convenience”. (Search “smart meter” at www.weeksmd.com and prepare to be infuriated!)
On Saturday October 10th, my colleagues and I (along with some who have lost children and spouses to brain tumors attributed to wireless radiation) attended the Wireless Technology and Public Health Summitwhich was held in the heart of Silicon Valley at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts. The event was sponsored by the Santa Clara Medical Association Alliance Foundation. Doctors, researchers, and public policy experts in the field of wireless health impacts joined together for the first time in the heart of Silicon Valley and declared that there is more than enough evidence to reign in wireless technology, particularly in schools and other locations where sensitive populations spend time.
The summit was not only completely sold out- an indication of the burgeoning interest in the subject in the Bay Area- but an overflow crowd stood at video monitors in the lobby. There were approximately 300 in Silicon Valley in attendance at 9 am on a Saturday!
All of the speakers were fascinating but we are especially appreciative to Loretta Lynch for her honesty and courage in telling it like it is concerning the California Public Utility Commission on the smart meter issue, the San Bruno disaster and more. Her now resigned predecessor, Michael Peevey is currently under investigation by the U.S. Attorney and the California Attorney General. Despite this outrageous behavior Governor Jerry Brown has turned his back on the citizens of California and stood on the side of this corruption.
This is affecting each and every one of us with the proliferation of smart meters and cellular telecommunications facilities (unfortunately made worse in CA Saturday night when Gov. Brown signed AB 57 greatly limiting city control of siting of these facilities thus making it a state matter – may cities opposed this and it is a power grab by industry. Many in Sacramento are owned by this industry!)
IF YOU HAVE NOT ALREADY DONE SO PLEASE OPT OUT OF SMART METERS ! Your meter is not only affecting you but the health and safety of your neighbors also. There is NOTHING GOOD ABOUT THEM OTHER THAN THE ELECTRIC COMPANIES WILL PROFIT AT YOUR EXPENSE!
If you are unfamiliar with Peevey and the current scandal please take a moment to watch this: http://www.nbcbayarea.com/investigations/Critic-Weighs-In-On-CPUC-Presidents-Legacy-286258631.html
Points from Loretta Lynch’s speech:
Loretta Lynch, Former President of the California Public Utilities Commission, and one of California’s most influential Attorneys stated this past Saturday:
- The science is clear: EMF’s affect health, particularly the most vulnerable among us.
- Those living within 150 feet of power lines are at increased risk of serious disease
- Utilities and telecommunications companies know these facts but obtain “obscenely obsessive profits” from this technology and are in a “desperate scramble” to set regulations in stone before public awareness increases and reforms are widely demanded.
- Health and environmental costs from wireless tech are “externalized” to society at large
- At this point, we are lucky if regulators are ignorant about this issue. More often they are co-opted and corrupted.
- “Smart grid” and “smart meters” are a “lucrative boondoggle” approved by the CPUC.
- CPUC says “pay me and I’ll give you what you want” in secret backroom deals- a classic case of corruption and bribery, revealed in e-mails. Peevey asked PG&E in an email for a $1 million contribution to a candidate!
- CPUC has become a “rogue agency” essentially controlled by corporations
- This has made a mockery of due process, and Michael Peevey, former CPUC President , has acted as if the CPUC were his own personal playground.
- CPUC has allowed utilities to cut corners, skip safety regulations, etc.
- A parade of former CPUC Commissioners now work for the utilities- the so-called “revolving door.”
- The smart meter roll out was plagued with problems, and the only way regulators approved it was that they have “drunk the kool-aid.”
- The $2.2 billion+ cost of smart meters and the smart grid came about because of a secret deal between Peevey and the utilities, and the costs have been borne by ratepayers.
- Analog meters are “simple, accurate, and reliable.” There was no need to change them out. The only reason they were replaced with smart meters is that the utilities were not profiting off them any longer- they had “fully depreciated.”
- Utilities have entered the “big data” game and using and profiting from your private electric usage data. Protecting the privacy of our home has become harder and harder.
- She is optimistic even though she has “seen the sausage made” because the science is so strong. She sees a change in public policy coming within 5 years, and urges us to educate the legislature, as you never know when you will find an intrigued official.
- We need to continue educating legislators, the media and the public about the facts concerning all wireless radiation devices and the health effects
- the John Oliver Tom Wheeler “dingo” segment really raised awareness of the revolving door at the FCC (symbolic of the corruption at the CPUC). This is hilarious despite the seriousness of the issues: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkjkQ-wCZ5A
Please share this with others and if you want videos of the speakers please let me know