Pacific Grove City Watch
- "You MUST PROTECT YOURSELF"
- "Box Your Analog Meters - Frame, Chain, Wooden"
- "Utility Commission Committee emails"
- "Protest Sign Ideas"
RED ALERT - ACT NOW
4/19/11 - print and send letter or email to the Ca State Utility Commission Committee - find the letter
in "Utility Commission Committee emails" folder.
ACTION ALERT - Everyone must get involved - or we will all be surrounded.
--give information to your neighbors, including Wellington’s phone number: 1- 866 - 671 - 1001
--with your neighbors, watch your neighborhood
--take flyers with you and let people know
- check back here for updates, and share this page.
Protest (pick 1, 2 or more to do as you have time):
--stand with a protest sign with a buddy on a busy street corner for an hour or two, have flyers to hand out if people want more information
--contact
--------the PUC -- regarding the opt-out proposal and Smart Meter program
--------Governor Brown
--------Bill Monning, Sam Blakeslee, Luis Alejo, state senators and Assemblymembers
--write letters to the editor
--------Monterey Herald
--------Salinas Californian
--------Monterey County Weekly
--------other newspapers
--file a complaint with the county district attorney
Monterey County Update Bulletins
Please take flyers with you wherever you go, and give to businesses and people you meet. Write Wellington phone number on your flyers (1-866-671-1001) so that people can call that number when they get their letters from PG&E. We need everyone’s help to get this stopped. Flyering, or holding signs protesting Smart Meters with a friend for an hour or two at busy intersections gets the word out.
OTHER RESOURCES
- EMF Safety Network now has a page devoted to the California Council on Science and Technology study and the critiques – great scientific information. It is under the Smart Meter Hazards tab at the top. www.emfsafetynetwork.org
Monterey and Pacific Grove libraries have books with Smart Meter documentation that I’ve put there, for those who don’t have computers. Seaside, Carmel and Salinas will be getting copies as soon as I can get there – this week. The libraries may be reluctant to keep these books. Call the libraries or go by and ask to see these books. Most of the libraries will have a three-volume set.
The District Attorney complaint form is in Vol. 1 to copy.
You Must Protect Yourself
2 - get your keys back from PG&E, change your security code on your gate - If you have a gate lock or code to get to your meter and you’re changing it to keep Wellington and PG&E out, call Kathy at to let them know 831-241-1893
3 - Once you receive a letter from PG&E stating that they "will be installing SmartMeters in your neighborhood soon", call Wellington (the installation company) at 1-866-671-1001 - M-F, 8am-8pm, and ask them if they have a "work order" for your house. Give them your physical address and they can check. If they do have a work order for your location, tell them you don't want a SmartMeter. They won't argue with you. They will send your "work order" back to PG&E, and they will not schedule your house for installation.
4 - If they don't have a work order for your house, then you'll need to check back with them again. If at any point you receive a letter from PG&E, saying that they are about to install in your neighborhood, that is the point at which to make certain to call Wellington and strongly decline a SmartMeter. (They don't want trouble, and they feel this is PG&E's problem, not theirs, so they'll send the "work order" back to them.)
5 - Then, call PG&E 3 or 4 business days after speaking to Wellington, to make certain that they received back the work order from Wellington. Call this number: 1-866-743-0263.
These steps should hopefully buy us enough time for the "Opt -Out program" from PG&E to come into being.
6 - If you want to, you can also call PG&E at 1-866-743-0263, and insist on being put on their "delay" list. (This doesn't guarantee anything, however, and shouldn't be considered your "protection". But, it's probably a good idea to do this, too.)
Even if you aren't worried about SmartMeters, those of your neighbors who are electrically sensitive or have compromised health would be very grateful if you could PLEASE take these steps to help keep our neighborhoods protected from unnecessary and toxic radiation from these meters.
It will also help us prevent rising PG&E rates during peak usage hours, and also prevent the loss of privacy that these meters inherently are.
Nothing will stop them from getting to your meter except you.
Protests - Signs
Ban Smart Meters
Stop Smart Meters
Smart Meters harm our communities
Microwave rf harms DNA
PG&E puts profits before people
Safety first
Halt Smart Meter program
Smart Meters make people sick
Smart Meters = problems
Gov. Brown, halt this program!
Smart Meter Opt out is a Joke
I will not pay for your mistake.
Utility Commission Committee
NOTE: below email addresses are all in one building. To email ALL, simply copy and paste the whole list.
California State Assembly
Committee on Utilities and Commerce
Committee Phone (916) 319-2083
Assemblymember.Bradford@assembly.ca.gov, Assemblymember.Fletcher@assembly.ca.gov, Assemblymember.Buchanan@assembly.ca.gov, Assemblymember.Fong@assembly.ca.gov, Assemblymember.Fuentes@assembly.ca.gov, Assemblymember.Furutani@assembly.ca.gov, Assemblymember.Gorell@assembly.ca.gov, Assemblymember.Hernandez@assembly.ca.gov, Assemblymember.Huffman@assembly.ca.gov, Assemblymember.Knight@assembly.ca.gov, Assemblymember.Nestande@assembly.ca.gov, Assemblymember.Skinner@assembly.ca.gov, Assemblymember.Swanson@assembly.ca.gov, Assemblymember.Valadao@assembly.ca.gov
4/19/11 - Letter to the Utility Commission Committee
California State Assembly
Committee on Utilities and Commerce Committee
You are considering Smart Meters and their future.
Below is an article about the uproar in Maine and proposed legislation there, and an outstanding comment regarding Smart Meters and why they and the much-touted Smart Grid don’t work in reality.
A mistake is a mistake. The ramifications of this program were never sufficiently investigated, and we are dealing with the fall-out from that now.
Introduce this legislation for the residents of California:
Whereas, substantial and serious problems and issues have arisen with the deployment of the Smart Grid/Smart Meter program in the state of California and in other states,
Including billing increases, health problems, environmental impacts, privacy issues, interference, and job loss, brought to our attention by the public,
Whereas, the California Public Utilities Commission has not undertaken thorough, substantive investigations into these issues, dismissing applications filed with them, disregarding the advice of the Division of Ratepayer Advocates, and disregarding the growing opposition and concerns of the public and their elected officials; and
Whereas the actual benefit to the public, and the energy savings from, the Smart Meter/AMI program is questionable, leading the Attorney General of Connecticut to file a brief opposing their proposed AMI program; and
Whereas the continued use and deployment of Smart Meters in California poses a clear and present threat to the well-being of the residents of the state of California, risks including privacy, security, health, accuracy, and consumer fraud; and
Whereas immediate action is needed to address these issues, because inaction will allow these problems to continue and, in all probability, compound, to the serious detriment of our constituents throughout the state,
Whereas the California Constitution, Article 1, Section 1, is very clear about the substantial “inalienable” rights of the residents of this state, including the right to enjoy and defend our life and liberty, protect our property, and pursue and obtain “safety, happiness, and privacy;” and
Whereas the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act states: "The people of this state do not yield their sovereignty to the agencies which serve them...The people insist on remaining informed so that they may retain control over the instruments they have created." The people of California, not the public agencies they have appointed, have the ultimate authority to decide on their own behalf; and
Whereas, common sense concurs,
We, the legislators of the State of California, do take the following immediate actions:
- An immediate halt to the Smart Meter/Smart Grid program statewide, including a halt to the installation or activation of Smart Meters and infrastructure and including water meters
- Immediate deactivation of existing Smart Meters and infrastructure statewide
- A prohibition on the disposal of analog meters, and a requirement that they be securely stored in California, in the areas from which they were removed.
- Immediate public hearings and investigation into Smart Meter problems, including rf health, safety, and environmental issues
- An investigation into the California Public Utilities Commission and its ties to industry, and recommendations made for reform, including replacement of staff and commissioners, including those with conflicts of interest, and an examination of all records related to consumer complaints and health problems related to Smart Meters, including phone conversations, correspondence, and contacts with customers including site visits.
- An investigation into California utility companies, consultants, and contractors, including subpoena of all records related to consumer complaints and health problems related to Smart Meters, including phone conversations, correspondence, and contacts with customers including site visits.
Sincerely,
Your constituent,
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
The Problems With Smart Meters - Wildlife & Humans
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yoyETbp1Q8&feature=player_embedded
There are other issues that concern our wildlife, and the effects of being surrounded with a canopy of EMF that will surround bugs, butterflies, pets from the installation of Smart Meters and the broadcast receiving towers. This is an excellent book "Birds, Bees and Humans" by Mark Ulrich, and is available here. It is a German translation in 2010 and the research in it is amazing. All navigational creatures, bees, bats, and butterflies like our Monarch Butterflies in the Pacific Grove, CA Monarch Grove Sanctuary, is magnetite.
Their magnetite allows these creatures to navigate in reaction to the fluctuating electromagnetic fields of the earth, like coming storms. Magnetite is like having another ear so that they can react appropriately. When we create artificial EMF's it is louder than the natural EMF's of the planet. One of the reasons cell phone technology works is that they are louder, and will overpower the earth's natural frequencies, they override it, and they are above it. When we do that, we make these guys (navigational wildlife), work a whole lot harder to know where they are going. There are things like sudden hive collapse where the bee's just didn't come back. One of the things EMF's can do in creatures and humans is upset the nitrous oxide system, and in bees this system is part of their learning, smell and immune system.
There are many parallels to the human system as well. When sudden hive collapse as well as immune disease problems bees began, the scientists that wrote the book stated that they had never seen such a great increase in the bugs that the bees had to contend with...what's going on here. Well, if your immune system is affected either by cell towers nearby, or living in an area where there is a lot of wireless radiation going on could account for this. The last chapter of the book is on human impacts. It lists a progression of health impacts. Again, we are not seeing people dying on the streets and it's very difficult to say "we are all walking around more or less functional. A lot of illnesses are long term and have latency periods. A lot of cancers have 10 years or more latency periods. So, we don't get the immediate feedback that would really help us to identify if something is dangerous nor not. If you put your hand on a hot stove, you know instantly, but with microwave radiation, RF and EMF's people are not getting that instant feedback. PG&E says, well, more research is needed, just keep buying all these appliances, keep hanging around your hair dryer mind you. PG&E did say in their brochure you might want to limit your exposure to hair dryers because hair dryers have huge EMF fields. The further you are away from the source, the more the EMF's drop off over a distance. See more of this article including Radio Interference and Accumulative Effects, as well as all the links. more here http://mocotp.com/posts/smart-meter-health-affects-what-pge-is-not-telling-the-public-for-industry-profit
Cell Phone Radiation - Higher Risk to Children
Recent scientific tests show that just two hours of exposure to high-frequency electromagnetic fields (EMF), such as the ones you're exposed to every time you turn on your cell phone, microwave oven, bluetooth headset, certain household appliances can lead to permanent DNA damage in brain and sex cells...Consistent exposure from daily microwave radiation use can have serious health consequences!
Are Your Children at Risk, Too?
Radiation Penetration in head of adult | Radiation Penetration in head of 10 year old child | Radiation Penetration in head of 5 year old child |
Children ARE at a GREATER RISK Because
Their Skulls Have Not Completely Thickened
PICTURES BELOW OF RADIATION FROM A CELL PHONE FLOWING THROUGHOUT YOUR CAR TURNING IT INTO A RADIATION CAGE?
Adverse Influence of Radio Frequency Background on Trembling Aspen Seedlings: Preliminary Observations
Volume 2010 (2010), Article ID 836278, 7 pages
doi:10.1155/2010/836278
Research Article
Adverse Influence of Radio Frequency Background on Trembling Aspen Seedlings: Preliminary Observations
Abstract
Numerous incidents of aspen decline have been recorded in North America over the past half century, and incidents of very rapid mortality of aspen clones have been observed in Colorado since 2004. The radio frequency (RF) environment of the earth has undergone major changes in the past two centuries due to the development and use of electricity in power and communications applications, and the anthropogenic RF background continues to increase in intensity and complexity. This study suggests that the RF background may have strong adverse effects on growth rate and fall anthocyanin production in aspen, and may be an underlying factor in aspen decline.
Read the full Study
Conclusions
Conclusions
The results of this preliminary experiment indicate that the RF background may be adversely affecting leaf and shoot growth and inhibiting fall production of anthocyanins associated with leaf senescence in trembling aspen seedlings. These effects suggest that exposure to the RF background may be an underlying factor in the recent rapid decline of aspen populations. Further studies are underway to test this hypothesis in a more rigorous way.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
PG&E seeks Bailout from Customers with CPUC Request
PG&E proposes a radio-off monthly fee that will likely cost anywhere from $2880.00-$4320.00 over the 15 year life of the smart meter, or 20$ more on your bill every month. These figures could change, (go up), of course, depending on the concentration of on/off customers in a square mile radius.
One can actually move their existing meters further away from where they are physically located now at a cost ranging between $2K-11K depending on the distance and overhead vs buried wires.
Not addressed in the proposal is the likelihood one can completely escape the EMF's coming from their radio-on neighbors. Will they pay more for their own health or the health of their neighbors by moving their , (radio-on), gas/electric meters? Nope. Will they pay extra to opt-out, (radio-off), for their neighbors? Double nope.
Contact your legislators and tell them this radio-off opt-out plan won't work, is too expensive, and is not acceptable. The Utilities Commion Committee will be meeting on April 4th, so get your letter off as soon as possible.
Contact CPUC. We have 30 days from 3/24/11 for public input. Let them know what you think of PG&E radio-off opt-out plan.
read radio-on option here
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Stop Smart Meter Bulletin Vol. 6, March 22, 2011
Stop Smart Meters! Bulletin
Quote of the Month
WHAT ARE SMART METERS!?
THANK YOU FOR DONATING TO STOP SMART METERS!
34 CA LOCAL GOVERNMENTS UNITED IN DEMANDING A ‘SMART’ METER HALT
SAN FRANCISCO GETTING “EXTRA STRENGTH” SMART METER RADIATION
STOP SMART METERS! TAKES DIRECT ACTION TO STOP SF ROLLOUT
SAGE ASSOCIATES WEBSITE HAS NEW RESOURCES
DEFEND YOUR ANALOG METER
SSM! ASKS DIFFICULT QUESTIONS AT THE CPUC PRESS CONFERENCE
MONTEREY COUNTY SMART METER ACTIVIST HERO NINA BEETY IS A STAR
STOP SMART METERS! NOW ON TWITTER!
FAIRFAX WINS PUBLIC CEO’S AWARD FOR BEST ORDINANCE OF THE YEAR
MEDIA UPDATE AND LINKS
Wireless ‘Smart’ Meter Debacle
Stop Smart Meters! interviewed on KSCO- great radio show with call-ins!
GENERAL WIRELESS AND HEALTH NEWS
GENERAL UTILITY DYSFUNCTION
DEMOCRACY
--
Joshua Hart
Director, Stop Smart Meters!
http://stopsmartmeters.org
Smart Meters - Monterey County BOS - No Concern For Your Health
Crafty proponents of wireless smart meters speak out of both sides of their mouths. They find various reasons to dismiss peer-reviewed studies of the opponents, while at the same time maintain more studies are needed. So the MoCo BOS decide to request more studies...that, of course, will happen when we all start turning shades of purple.
MoCo BOS also provide the excuse that they don't want to open the county up to possible lawsuits with PG&E if they were to take a strong health advocacy position. Just minutes before the presentation of the Health Commission Report, they approved spending an additional $100K of your tax dollars on lawsuits when it comes to the desalination plant.
Omni-missing Supervisor Potter was the only supe not to meet with health advocates sounding the alarm of an environment surrounded by EMF prior to the county municipality's action. He walked out of the public chamber just prior to the Health Commissions presentation immediately after voting on an additional $100K to fund desal lawsuits. This is one reason he should be recalled. Public Health issues require participation, not missing in action.
The remaining supes likely tow the union, United Nations position. Whatever they want, they get. They should all be recalled as they have negated their concern for public health.
Since there are no protections for the citizens coming from our local governments and agencies, we will now protect our property with cages, and file civil lawsuits against PG&E for property rights violations. We need to understand this outcome was by design, as most Americans remain passive to authority.
PG&E is banking on the fact that few citizens have the stomach for such actions, and will eventually roll over and allow their analog meter to be replaced. When our government allows something of this magnitude to happen, there is a problem with government. You need to call the newly appointed members of the CPUC right now, and tell them forced deployment of wireless smart meters will not be tolerated and to take quick action to assist citizens under siege by PG&E.
In the meantime, we will be surrounded by EMF's at unprecedented levels, where no environmental study exists or is pending. We will not know, at any given time, if our exposure levels rise above the FCC limits if we don't have a device on our person that warns us. The life of a lab rat has just begun.
We plan to continue working within our own communities to educate our neighbors about the hazards of wireless smart meters and what it will cost them to protect themselves in their own homes.
Pacific Grove City Watch is sponsoring a Community Warning - "Surrounded by Microwaves". March 30th, 7:00pm, Community Center, 515 Junipero. More info here.
One person from every neighborhood should attend.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Monterey Co. Health Commission - "Few Studies Mapping Exposure"
Smart Meters - Monterey BOS Review of Health Issues Related to Smart Meters
*****
What's wrong with this report? It makes no sense, especially their recommendations. The Health Commission is supposed to be concerned about our health, right. Think again. They missed the boat completely.
This report pulls out an apple; tells us the apple has been studied; people are warned about the apple, then states they are fairly confident the orange studies are so similar to the apples; they reassure us that the apple is safe so therefore the orange must also be safe, but they need more studies to make sure. Meanwhile, our Health Commission recommends doing studies that won't happen before we are all surrounded by a NEW, non escapable web of EMF's. You call this public health protection?
1. Comparing cell phones (apples) to smart meters (oranges)
Not every household has three cell phones transmitting 24/7/365. They are voluntary, and there are warnings on their use. All homes and buildings will now have three wireless utility meters transmitting at various times on top of the wireless devices already in use by the population. This new concentrated web of EMF is new, no enviromental impact study has been done on this phenomenon and even this report states:
"Once the smart grid is fully active, it is expected that smart meters will transmit more frequently than once every four hours resulting in a higher duty cycle. Exposure levels are expressed as .tW/cm2. There are few reports providing detailed modeling of the potential exposure patterns that may be associated with individual or arrays of smart meters."
What!!! No exposure pattern map?
What will be your exposure as you stand outside of Church with your child in a baby buggy and two children while you visit with friends for 10 or 15 minutes? What is the exact exposure of that specific spot?
What will be your exposure if you are throwing a BBQ party in your own back yard?
You can't see the EMF's web hot spot. How do you know what your exposure is, does it exceed FCC standard? Does anyone know?
Who will test every square inch of our cities to find out where not to stand for certain periods of time. The answer is no one knows, the exposure map is missing.
So this New potential health hazard is not even being considered, given little weight, yet the Health Commission simply recommends more studies! How about a specific study, like exposure mapping of every inch of real estate in our county.
"It is the recommendation of the Monterey County Health Department that the Board of Supervisors direct staff to send a letter to the PUC requesting the PUC continue to study through independent experts the effects of long-term exposure to low level EMFs and report out findings to all county health departments."
Are you people insane. How about a full blown ban with the wireless smeters removed until which time the entire county can be mapped, along with warnings on the patches of real estate where people, plants and animals (including insects) will get a blast of EMF's that will surpass the FCC safety limits on the non-thermal, low frequency microwaves. Neither me nor my family want to be your lab rats. I am not convinced you believe we should not be.