President Obama could not have picked a worse nominee than Tom Wheeler to head the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Wheeler has obvious industry ties and conflicts of interest:
- Wheeler chaired the CTIA, the Wireless Association, which includes Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile;
- Wheeler chaired the National Cable Television Association, which includes Comcast, Time Warner, and others;
- Wheeler is the director of Core Capital Partners LP, a venture capital firm that manages $350 million in the high-growth technology sector- they rely on friendly regulation at the FCC;
- Wheeler raised millions of dollars for Obama’s presidential campaign;
- Wheeler is listed on Fierce Wireless’ top ten list of people who helped shape the wireless industry.
The FCC regulates the nation’s airwaves and all communications plus its accompanying infrastructure. The FCC sets the “safety” standards for radio frequency radiation (RF) used in all wireless devices. The standards are inadequate and obsolete because they do not address long term health effects, and they were created before cell towers, cell phones, wi-fi and “smart” meters.
Importantly, the FCC is set to update these RF “safety” standards soon. With trillions of wireless products in use today, babies, children, adults, animals, the environment, and future generations are all at risk from chronic exposure to wireless radiation based on inadequate safety standards.
With a wireless industry leader as the head of the FCC there’s little chance for safe oversight. These crucial decisions will threaten us for decades to come.
MORE INFO:
- Authors of the BioInitiative Report, science and public policy experts signed a letter to US Senators urging them to reject Wheeler stating, “Mr. Wheeler should not be in charge of the nation’s safety standards and deployment for a technology he promotes without regard to public health and safety…” http://emfsafetynetwork.org/?p=9964
- The World Health Organization classifies wireless as a possible carcinogen, same as DDT and lead! http://emfsafetynetwork.org/?p=4386
- Read B. Blake Levitt’s commentary, ” Why the Senate Should Reject Tom Wheeler- Another Industry Crony at the FCC?” http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/05/10/another-industry-crony-at-the-fcc/
Sign the petition here: https://www.change.org/petitions/reject-president-obama-s-nomination-of-thomas-wheeler-to-head-the-fcc
Cindy Sage Challenges the “Smart” in LADWP’s “Smart” Grid
LADWP project manager guarantees “smart” meters are optional!
Last week at a Woodland Hills City Council meeting, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) presented information about their Smart Meter deployment plans, while environmental consultant Cindy Sage, co-editor of the BioInitiative Report, presented information warning of the deployment risks.
Marcelo Di Paolo, manager of the LADWP Smart Grid project said they received a $60 million dollar federal grant and that the research institutes of USC, UCLA and Cal Tech/Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) doubled the project funding for a total of $120 million dollars. Hmmm… what does a Jet Propulsion Lab have to do with smart meters?
Di Paolo stated this is a demonstration project and would be in three areas around UCLA, USC, and Chatsworth. LADWP is planning to deploy 52,000 Itron smart meters. Hmmm, 52,000 meters is a demonstration project?
He also said the meters only transmit 3 times a day! Hmmm….Haven’t we heard that before? PG&E used to say their meters only transmitted 6 times a day. Then they admitted up to 190,000 times a day, per meter.
Di Paolo also said that the project is “purely a volunteer optional program” and that the community can “pick and actually choose whether or not to participate.”
In stark contrast to Di Paolo’s optimism was Cindy Sage who warned about the evidence for health problems from the pulsed radiation Smart Meters emit. She stated, “Those wireless impacts are biologically very similar to the impacts you would have from a cell tower.” She wisely urged them to learn from the mistakes the Investor Owned Utilities have made. She asks, “Is this a smart business model, to provide a device for energy conservation…if there are going to be unintended consequences in terms of health impacts for people?”
Di Paolo said the deployment would start in a couple weeks, but two LADWP customers said they already had Smart Meters on their home, that they were sick from the exposure and that when they complained, LADWP refused to remove it!
Meanwhile, although the manager claims LADWP sent out letters stating at the bottom of the letter that participation was voluntary, nowhere in the Smart Grid L.A. Letter does it say the meters are optional. At the end of the meeting Di Paolo guaranteed the meters were optional and provided his direct line for people to call: 213-367-1388.
Thanks to Ecological Options Network for providing the videos of the event. Here’s Part 2 of the meeting: