City of Sebastopol defends senior residents against PG&E smart meters

Half of the gardens in front of mobile park homes have been removed for new electrical work.

A majority of residents from Fircrest Mobile Home Park in Sebastopol signed a petition asking the City of Sebastopol to help them avoid the installation of “smart meters” and to retain analog meters in their senior community. PG&E has been working in the mobile home park since July replacing utility lines in order to switch all homes from sub-metered analogs to smart meters.

In support of the residents’ petition, the City of Sebastopol sent a letter to the mobile home park management with a copy to PG&E, with a reminder that in 2013 the City of Sebastopol adopted a temporary moratorium on smart meter installations and related equipment.

The letter stated that the park’s initiation of the electrical work has resulted in residents facing the need to meet an unanticipated fee in order to “opt out” of smart meter installations that they did not request. They ask, “The Sebastopol City Council asks your cooperation in either paying the opt fee for the residents of the park, and/or your request of PG&E that they retain the analog meters.” 

The letter pointed out that Fircrest Park’s residents can be considered “Captive” in the mobile home park by reason of their dual status as both home owners and tenants which the City maintains is both unfair and possibly a violation of the protections of the California Mobile Home Residency Law.

81 residents of Fircrest Mobile Home Park have signed the petition (from 68 out of 87 total households) to oppose smart meters. Many believe smart meters would negatively affect the aesthetics and significantly decrease the value of their home. As park residents learned more about how smart meters emit pulsed microwave radiation 24/7 very near to their bedrooms and living quarters, they have expressed a growing concern about the negative health and safety impacts of these devices.  The fact that Fircrest Mobile Home Park is a high density senior residence adds to the concern about the cumulative effect of so many microwave emitting devices in such a small area.

Peer-reviewed scientific research shows that exposure to wireless smart meters is associated with increased health problems. Dr. Martin Pall reports, “18 more recent epidemiological studies, provide substantial evidence that microwave EMFs from cell/mobile phone base stations, excessive cell/mobile phone usage and from wireless smart meters can each produce similar patterns of neuropsychiatric effects, with several of these studies showing clear dose-response relationships…Among the more commonly reported changes are sleep disturbance/insomnia, headache, depression/depressive symptoms, fatigue/tiredness, dysesthesia, concentration/attention dysfunction, memory changes, dizziness, irritability, loss of appetite/body weight, restlessness/anxiety, nausea, skin burning/tingling/dermographism and EEG changes.” See also this smart meter study. 

Media and numerous customer complaints reported electrical costs skyrocketed after smart meter installation.  Smart meter malfunction has also been implicated in smart meter fires and burned out appliances.

Sebastopol’s General Plan includes protective electromagnetic field (EMF) policies; for example Community Health and Wellness Policy 4-2: “minimize unsafe EMF radiation levels near sensitive areas such as schools, hospitals, playgrounds, high density residential, and libraries when planning for electrical transmission facilities repair and new construction.” (page 10-6 in the General Plan.)

11/27/2019 UPDATE:  Gas analog meters have been installed and electric analog meters are currently being installed. Thank you PG&E!

Pollinators at risk: Honey Bee Says STOP 5G

Peer-reviewed studies show that wireless radiation harms bees, birds, and humans. In 2018 Newsweek reported “Technology is quite literally destroying nature” and 5G could make it even worse. Click on the flyer below to learn more, and then TAKE ACTION! What is 5G? See this fact sheet.

TAKE ACTION!

  1. Contact your local, state and federal representatives. See letter template and how to find your representatives below.
  2. Reduce your wireless use. See this brochure.
  3. Download and share the Stop 5G bee flyer, and use this flyer (best when printed on bright yellow paper) to post on telephone and light poles in your neighborhood where 5G could be installed. 

Suggested letter template

Dear ______________________,

The science is in:  EMFs are harmful. I am calling on you to stop 5G to protect bees, birds and humans! 5G will greatly increase involuntary exposure to wireless radiation in our communities with cell towers planned for every other block. There is no scientific evidence to support any claim of 5G safety! Scientists and public health experts from around the world are calling for a moratorium on 5G.(1) 

In 2018 Newsweek reported: “Technology is quite literally destroying nature, with a new report further confirming that electromagnetic radiation from power lines and cell towers can disorientate birds and insects and destroy plant health. The paper warns that as nations switch to 5G this threat could increase.” (2)

Peer-reviewed studies show worker bees did not return to their hives because of wireless radiation, which led to a colony collapse. (3) Radiation impacts on wild birds documented nest abandonment, plumage deterioration and death. Lab studies of chick embryos documented heart attacks and death. (4) In 2019 the Swiss environmental group Pro Natura reported 5G increases the body temperature of insects. (5)

The 30 million dollar, ten year US National Toxicology Program study found clear evidence of cancer from exposure to wireless radiation. (6)

The telecommunication industry’s unbounded profit motive should never outweigh public and environmental safety. Communications are faster, more reliable, and safer using wired and corded connections.  Stop 5G!

Sincerely,  [your name and address]

How to find your representatives

EMF Health Effects Survey 2019

The EMF Health Effects Survey 2019 is an anonymous survey circulated online from 11/27/2018 to 1/27/2019 through the EMF Safety Network lists, website, and affiliate online EMF groups. There are 876 respondents and over 1300 comments. THANK YOU to all who took the survey and to all who helped to circulate it!

Ed Halteman, PhD of Survey Design and Analysis has prepared a report of the Survey Results. A summary of the results is 52% of all respondents stated “severely”or “a lot” in response to the question of “How much does the current EMF environment (cell phones/smart meters/wireless etc.) limit your lifestyle – your ability to work, shop, play, and or spend time with friends and family?” 22% said they are affected a moderate amount, 15.6% a little and 10.5% not at all limited. 

Respondents were asked to best match themselves to the following descriptions which are synonymous with mild, moderate, and severe Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity (EHS). 49.3% said they are EMF Aware: “You are aware that electromagnetic fields and wireless radiation affect your health or make you feel unwell”
27.5% EMF Injured: “You have been injured by electromagnetic fields and/or wireless radiation”
19.1% Radiation sickness: “You have electromagnetic radiation sickness, a severe and chronic condition”
4.1% None of the above

The top health problems all respondents experience(d) and believe are related to EMF exposure are: Sleep; Fatigue; Concentration, memory or learning problems; and Stress and anxiety.

The top EMF device(s), all respondents believe caused or worsened their health problems are: Wi-fi; Cell phone; Smart meters; and Cell or radio tower.

The top remediations that people tried and reported as most helpful were: Prudent avoidance of EMF; turning electricity off at the breaker box, and shielding. The least helpful remedies were reported as: Medical doctors, prescription drugs and counseling or therapy.

When you look at the survey results segmented by self-description the numbers change. People with Radiation sickness had twice the number of health problems as EMF Aware, and 50% more than EMF Injured.

94% of people with Radiation sickness reported Concentration, memory or learning problems, compared to 47% of EMF Aware. People with Radiation sickness were more affected by cell or radio tower.

See the survey report by Survey Design and Analysis for more details on all descriptors and varying results between the three groups as well as a link to Survey summary and all comments. http://emfsafetynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/EMF_Wireless-Study-2019_Final-1.pdf

There is much to learn, and much more to say about these results. How can we best use this? Circulate this report to doctors and decision makers. Try a solution you haven’t tried yet. Have more compassion for people who are more affected than you. Understand not everyone is equally harmed. What else? Let us know!

In closing, please read the following commentary on this survey by Cindy Sage:

The many hundreds of comments written by people responding to the EMF Health Effects Survey 2019 by the EMF Safety Network are illuminating and profoundly disturbing. The Survey itself is invaluable to teach us what it is like to live a life with EHS limitations.  It doesn’t matter whether you live in the US, or Canada, or western Europe or Scandinavia. Or Asia. Or Australia.  The accounts are so similar.  The demoralizing effects are the same. 

What is obvious is that these people are expressing the symptoms of microwave radiation illness that could be predicted based on decades of international scientific studies.  The physiological basis for brain and body effects from microwave radiation exposures are well-accounted for in the science – so it should be no surprise to hear it.  At least a dozen major studies and reviews of cell tower-level RF exposures (of 0.1 microwatt per centimeter squared or more) have identified these same health effects the Survey presents through the personal comments of responders.

We don’t often get a window into the life of a person with EHS – how isolating it is – how marginalized people are – and how withdrawn they must become to protect what is left of their health.  We need to listen with ears wide open.  This is real and real people are living greatly diminished lives.  Imagine yourself forced to give up a productive life to live on the edge, and that edge keeps moving. Imagine being denied access to business opportunities, education, transportation, healthcare, public participation, recreation and places of celebration and renewal. 

Again and again we are hearing the same things.   I lived a normal life until… smart meters were installed on my wall… until a major macrocell tower was built next door…. until my office installed several wireless routers.   My family didn’t understand.  It took me some time to realize what was making me sick.  It destabilized my relationships.  I lost my freedom.

People with EHS have to give up so many things most people take for granted in life.  Shopping, going out to dinner, attending meetings in public places, going to a child’s graduation or recital, travel along an interstate or by rail or air.   Everyday activities that make up the fabric of life are no longer accessible – at least without paying the price.  

It is an insidious and invisible progression where the activities of daily life are incrementally diminished by exposures that intensify with time, subject to no health and safety accounting at all.   No one is keeping track of cumulative RF body burdens.  There is no governmental agency that is tracking EHS illness reports, nor conducting a serious effort to revise health standards.

Perhaps the most valuable lesson we can learn from this Survey is educated compassion. The first thing we can do is to accept that EHS is real.  The next thing we can do is to change our own behaviors.  And, after that, wherever we have influence – we need to help others find healthier ways of interacting with technology that protects all of us.”

Cindy Sage
Editor, BioInitiative Reports
Sage Associates

Take action to stop 5G Senate Bill S.3157

The Federal government is once again trying to take away local authority over cell towers. Senators John Thune (R-SD) and Brian Schatz (D-HI) introduced the STREAMLINE Small Cell Deployment Act (S.3157).

S. 3157 is similar to a California Senate bill, SB 649, which would have stripped local authority over cell towers. Governor Brown vetoed SB 649 in October 2017.

The National League of Cities (NLC) opposes S. 3157.  They wrote, “Despite urging from NLC and other local government advocates during the bill’s drafting phase, many preemptive provisions remain in the bill, including limiting the actions local governments can take on small cell wireless facility siting in an effort to make deployments cheaper, faster, and more consistent across jurisdictions.”

Here’s an easy way to take action. They NLC will send a letter directly to your representatives in Congress for you. You will need to insert your zip code, (and maybe your full address), and then the letter template will appear.

PLEASE NOTE: Instead of using their letter, which has statements of support for small cells, copy and paste the words below.

As a constituent, I am writing to express my opposition to the “Streamlining The Rapid Evolution And Modernization of Leading-edge Infrastructure Necessary to Enhance (STREAMLINE) Small Cell Deployment Act” (S. 3157).

S. 3157 is similar to a California bill (SB 649) which would have created a state mandated system of cell towers and eliminated local review and safety oversight. SB 649 was opposed by 300 cities, 47 counties and over 100 community, planning, health, environment and justice organizations. SB 649 was vetoed SB 649 by Governor Brown on October 15, 2017.

The threat of public and environmental harm from wireless radiation is real and growing. Local control is needed to ensure community safety, welfare and compliance with federal, state, and local laws.

Peer-reviewed published science shows wireless radiation harms public health and nature. Health effects include: fatigue, headaches, sleep problems, anxiety, ringing in the ears, heart problems, learning and memory disorders, increased cancer risk, and more. Children, the ill, and the elderly are more vulnerable.

International independent scientists are calling for biologically-based public exposure standards and reducing wireless radiation.

S. 3157 represents a direct affront to traditionally-held local authority. S. 3157 introduces an unnecessary, one-size-fits-all preemption of local jurisdiction. The bill also imposes unfair and inappropriate timelines on local governments.

For more information see this joint letter to Congress asking you to oppose any and all bills related to 5G and wireless radiation expansion: http://emfsafetynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Letter-to-Congress-2017-1.pdf

Thank you!

Local Authority Over Wireless Facilities in Public Rights-of-Way

EMF Safety Network engaged Best Best and Krieger partner Gail Karish to provide the legal means in which a California city can deny a small cell application in the public rights of way (PROW). Attorney Karish presents this information alongside the limitations on local authority in order to know the full scope of what a city can and can’t do.

Although the attorney has addressed the City of Sebastopol, the letter and legal advice is applicable and can be presented to any California city so they can know they are not powerless over small cell deployments.

April 24 2018 Letter to EMF Safety Network re: small cell

 

Unlocking the door:  How to successfully get through to people about wireless radiation.

By: Rachel Gaunt: For years I have been talking to people about the risks of wireless radiation. People who already “get it” are an easy audience. They nod and agree vehemently. But conversing with people who are new to this subject has not been so easy.

Too often I see their eyes glaze over, watch them shift uncomfortably, or frown and get defensive. The more I ramp up my passion about the subject the more they retreat.

As someone who has worked extensively in the field of communication and consumer motivation, I’m no stranger to activist campaigns, but this was a new level of puzzle. Why didn’t these folks – my family and my dear friends -want to hear the truth about some critical information pertinent to their health?

I used to fantasize that if I just got the exact right message or the right order of facts, they would magically come around and see the light.

But if there was one exact right message I hadn’t yet found it.

It wasn’t until I conducted some creative concept focus groups that I glimpsed the answer. This small-scale qualitative research helped me see what NOT to do. It also shed light on a way to get through the defense and reach people successfully.

Today I feel like there is a way to get through to people. It is not magic, it is a particular four step formula that I want to share.

Step One: Making the Invisible Visible

First off, the opening gambit has to change their worldview. It has to affect them viscerally. It is not enough to appeal to their rational brain alone, it has to touch their whole being, head, heart and instinct…. something they feel deep in their gut. It is only a visceral response that changes their worldview and opens the door.

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