Where the public gets burned and corporations get rate increases

Earlier this month California state legislators grilled the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) on it’s lax safety oversight and financial problems. President Michael Peevey was caught by a TV investigative reporter at a winery conference, instead of answering questions at a senate hearing in Sacramento: Peeveys Priority: Senate Hearing or Napa Winery?  Legislators voted to wipe out the CPUC’s $1.4 billion budget to “force the regulatory agency to justify how it spends its money.”

On Thursday May 23, PG&E customers continue to demand safe utility oversight from the CPUC. President Peevey started off the CPUC business meeting by saying since everyone had been there before he’d skip the safety instructions for the building.

Garril Page, of Marin County was one of a group of PG&E customers who spoke at their business meeting during public comments.  She said this:

“Lax oversight and failure to regulate too-cozy utilities… How often does this require restatement before there is corrective action? 

It is not Jack Hagan’s military mind we need, but a surgical strike at the head of the CPUC,  to stop unsafe, unreliable conditions, abuse of funds and fiscal improprieties.  

The public is threatened by deferred maintenance of utility infrastructure,  improperly regulated,  radiation-spewing devices,  overburdened power poles loaded with snooping, profit-producing,  data collectors that topple and burn. 

The CPUC used bureaucratic box-checking to conceal the number of exploding underground vaults. How will the truth about power pole fires be hidden?

The truth about Smart Meters is being revealed despite the CPUC’s apparent indifference to scientific research and aversion to public testimony. 

No amount of a carcinogen is safe, radiation effects are cumulative, the damage is irreversible, and for the privilege of toxic exposure we are charged opt-out  fees.

The California Public Utilities Commission: where the public gets burned and corporations get rate increases.”

Bravo Garril! There were many other terrific speakers too.

Reject the Fox (Wheeler) to guard the hen house (FCC)

https://www.change.org/petitions/reject-president-obama-s-nomination-of-thomas-wheeler-to-head-the-fcc

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:

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?Hmmmmmm.....

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.

PastedGraphic-1-9Deploying Smart Meters at a time when multitudes of people worldwide are complaining about the health and safety impacts is beyond super dumb, and reckless endangerment of innocent lives.  Our children are the most vulnerable.  Chronic exposure to pulsed radiation is harming everyone’s health.

Thanks to Ecological Options Network for providing the videos of the event. Here’s Part 2 of the meeting:

Smart Meter Harm in Port St. Lucie Florida

Shari Anker begins her comments to the Port St. Lucie Florida city council by stating,  “In the book, Diary of Anne Frank, is Anne’s famous entry that reads, Despite everything I still believe that people are good in their hearts.”  Not long after that she was killed in a concentration camp.  Anne Frank was right that at least some people have good hearts.  But for her, at that time and in that place there weren’t enough good people in her life.”

Shari states, “The pulsed modulated radiation emissions from the Neptune R900 water meters the city is installing causes injuries to my health. I need a zone of safety around my home where I am free of these emissions.”  Sheri’s letters and requests to the city are ignored. She asks,  “WHY NO RESPONSE?”

Lisa Lacoparra had a seizure 3 weeks after the “smart” water meter was installed by the City of Port St Lucie Utility Dept this year.  She also had a seizure last year one week after Florida Power and Light (FPL) installed smart meters on her neighbors homes.  Although FPL removed the smart meters from Lisa neighbors’ homes the Cities “smart” water meters for neighbors, at the end of her driveway are making her very ill.

Lisa’s doctor is requesting for all transmitting meters to be removed within a 300-600 m radius of her home. The City and the utility dept are refusing — even though it is a life threatening situation.

Call to demand that the city remove the transmitting radiation meters and provide a zone of safety for Lisa, and Sheri and everyone who requests it!

CALL TO ACTION: Reject Obama’s Wheeler to head the FCC

Last week, President Obama nominated Tom Wheeler, the founder of the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA), the wireless lobbyist group to head the FCC.  Wheeler is also a venture capitalist and a fund-raiser in Obama’s presidential campaign.

Authors of the BioInitiative Report 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, the integrity of the national electric grid or homeland security.

The FCC has recently announced a review of radiofrequency health and safety limits. This process must not be carried out under a new chairman who has shown antipathy toward public safety, and who puts industry economic considerations ahead of the protection of children and pregnant women.”

Blake Levitt, award-winning medical/science journalist writes in Counterpunch.org, “Why the Senate Should Reject Tom Wheeler- Another Industry Crony at the FCC?

“President Obama’s nomination of Tom Wheeler to head the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is the height of cynical cronyism and industry-pandering. He should not be confirmed. Obama, in fact, could not have found a worse nominee than Tom Wheeler to head this most significant regulatory agency – one with long tentacles into all our lives whether we know it or not. Wheeler is the last person who should have his hands on the levers of the FCC, though he’s been aching to do just that for decades.”

“Wheeler has far too many conflicts of interest and industry biases to head the FCC. The FCC, regulates the nation’s airwaves and all communications plus its accompanying infrastructure, including all broadcasters, cable companies, telephone-service providers both wired and wireless, satellite communications and the Internet. FCC is at a crucial juncture regarding decisions on new airwave auctions, further media consolidation, net neutrality, and most importantly the updating of the nation’s obsolete exposure standards for radiofrequency radiation. The stakes are high. These decisions will affect all U.S. citizens for decades to come in ways great and small….”

Read the full article at Counterpunch.org

Are EMF’s Affecting Your Health?

May is Electromagnetic Field (EMF) and Radio Frequency Radiation (RF) Injury Awareness month!

Do you feel ill, or unwell when you’re near cell phones, fluorescent lights, wi-fi, computers, or Smart Meters?  Are you suffering from symptoms doctors cannot explain or help with? Do you feel more at peace when the electricity goes out?  Some people: 1) are aware that electromagnetic fields and wireless radiation affect their health or make them feel unwell; or 2) have been injured by  electromagnetic fields and wireless radiation; or 3) have electromagnetic radiation sickness.

Reducing exposure to EMF’s and RF, aka wireless is known to help improve health and well being.

Potential health problems

  • Sleep problems (insomnia, difficulty falling asleep, night waking, nightmares)
  • Stress, agitation, anxiety, irritability
  • Headaches, sharp pain or pressure in the head
  • Ringing in the ears, ear pain, high pitched ringing
  • Concentration, memory or learning problems
  • Fatigue, muscle or physical weakness
  • Allergies
  • Disorientation, dizziness, or balance problems
  • Eye problems, including eye pain, pressure in the eyes,
  • Cardiac symptoms, heart palpitations, heart arrhythmias, chest pain
  • Leg cramps, or neuropathy
  • Arthritis, body pain, sharp, stabbing pains
  • Nausea, flu-like symptoms
  • Sinus problems, nose bleeds
  • Respiratory problems, cough, asthma
  • Skin rashes, facial flushing
  • Urinary problems
  • Endocrine disorders, thyroid problems, diabetes
  • High blood pressure
  • Changes in menstrual cycle
  • Hyperactivity or changes in children’s behavior
  • Seizures
  • Recurrence of cancer

Studies

The State of California advises prudent avoidance of EMFs.  A recent study from Finland found that prudent avoidance was the best way to restore health for people with “electrical sensitivity”. The International Agency for Research on Cancer, an arm of the World Health Organization classifies EMF and RF wireless as 2B (possible) carcinogens, same as DDT and lead!

Simple safety steps you can take

  • Use a corded landline for phone calls, remove cordless DECT phones.
  • Use cell phones for emergencies. Do not carry a cell phone “on” your body, use a speakerphone.
  • Use a wired internet connection. Remove wi-fi. Ensure the router and computer wi-fi is turned off.
  • Remove Smart Meters and restore the true analog meter, not a radio off smart meter, not a digital analog.
  • Remove CFL’s and fluorescent lighting.
  • Sleep in an electricity free bedroom. Turn the power off at the breaker box.
  • Click here for more suggestions.
  • Read about how utility Smart Meters are making people sick. Click here.