Help Stop a Telecom Coup Attempt
Cities throughout California are joining others across the country in opposing a fast-tracked mass build-out of radio-toxic ‘small cell’ 5G millimeter wave antennas being pushed by the telecommunications industry and its captive regulatory agency, the Federal Communication Commission.

Encourage your city or county to join the fight. Here’s why and how.

Antennas at every 4th to 12th House – various sized bases up to refrigerator-size on every block?
The Telecom industry says “Get out of our way!”
Across the country, city governments are saying, “NO”

WE INTERUPT THIS BLOG…

… to bring you this urgent message from Ellie Marks, indefatigable activist and founder of the California Brain Tumor Association:

Tell California State Senators “NO” on SB 649

SB649 will streamline placement of ​5G ​small cell Distributed Antenna System​s​ (DAS) on electric and light poles in front of businesses and residences. This bill eliminates local control and jurisdiction ​in regard to small cell distributed antenna systems (DAS) ​placement ​throughout the state of California. SB.649: Wireless Telecommunications Bill Read more at Oppose CA

California Bill SB 649 is at the Governance and Finance Committee right now.

Please write and/or call the senators and tell them to vote ’NO’ to CA Bill SB 649.
In addition , please write on their twitter account.
Your comments will be perpetually in cyberspace and everyone will see it.

We need many people to show up at the hearing on April 26, 9:30am, Room 112 at the Sacramento Capitol.
We will meet at Starbucks at 8:30 am on 4/26/17: 1123 12th St/L St., Sacramento, CA 95814

I am going to Sacramento for this on April 26. If anyone wants a ride please let me know- or perhaps we can all take the train together. This is a major power play by industry to put 5G wherever they want it and they are the only ones that truly benefit from this. We must stop this bill.

Please distribute this to your mailing lists. If people do not reside in CA they can still write to the legislative directors and/or the Senators on the committee.

PLEASE WRITE TO THEM NOW and ask them to vote NO ON SB 649- DO NOT WAIT FOR THESE MILLIMETER MICROWAVE ANTENNAS TO BE OUTSIDE YOUR HOMES.

Legislative directors emails:

Senator McGuire- Annabel.snider@sen.ca.gov
Senator Beall- lynne.andres@sen.ca.gov
Senator Nguyen- Elizabeth.watson@sen.ca.gov
Senator Lara- megan.baier@sen.ca.gov
Senator Hernandez- alex.norring@sen.ca.gov
Senator Hertzberg- Michael.bedard@sen.ca.gov
Senator Moorlach- Catherine.bird@sen.ca.gov

The senators emails are in this format- senator.mcquire@senate.ca.gov

Excellent points are included below. Basically 5G will need antennas and boxes every 4-5 homes and will be in the public right of ways- they will even have fake mailboxes with 5G equipment on them. This is very powerful microwave radiation and we do not want it outside our homes and offices. Russia has banned it and replaced it with fiber optics.

The California League of Cities is opposed to SB 649 but it passed unanimously through the first committee.

See Phone Numbers Below.

SenatorMike McGuire (Chair) – 2nd Senate Dist — North Coast/North Bay,
State Capitol Rm. 5061, email: senator.mcguire@senate.ca.gov, Phone: 916-651-4002

SenatorJanet Nguyen (Vice Chair): 34th Senate Dist — NW Orange County,
State Capitol Rm. 3048, email via website portal, Phone: (916) 651-4034

SenatorJim Beall:15th Senate Dist — Including cities of San Jose, Campbell, Cupertino,
State Capitol Rm. 2082, email via website portal Phone: (916) 651-4015

SenatorEd Hernandez: 22nd Senate Dist — San Gabriel Valley communities
State Capitol Rm. 2080, email via website portal, Phone: (916) 651-4022

SenatorRobert M. Hertzberg: 18th Senate Dist — San Fernando Valley
State Capitol Rm. 4038, email via website portal, Phone: (916) 651-4018

SenatorRicardo Lara: 33rd Senate Dist — LA & LA County-various cities
State Capitol Rm. 5050, email via website portal, Phone: (916) 651-4033

SenatorJohn M. W. Moorlach: 37th Senate Dist – Much of Orange County
State Capitol Rm. 2048, email via website portal, Phone: (916) 651-4037

Points to help you draft letters, make calls and/or give testimony at the hearing, provided are some sound bites for you to give to the Governance & Finance Committee:

• Taking away property rights will result in lowered property value
• Lowered property value will then lead to lowered property tax revenues
• US NTP $25 million dollar study proved RF emissions from ​2G causes DNA breaks, cancers of the brain and heart.
• Over 220 international scientists have sent an appeal to the WHO that RF emissions are already out of control, and this statement was made two years ago.
• Increase in health care costs due to growing health problems amongst the population
• Lowered productivity at work due to negative health impacts from the increased wireless radiation exposures
• Lloyd’s of London and Swiss Re, two major insurance companies of the world, will not cover medical expenses incurred due to exposure to electromagnetic radio frequency radiation (EMR) (i.e. cellphones, wifi, cell tower, antennas, DAS, IoT devices, smart meters, etc.)
• Environmental devastation from loss of oxygen producing foliage due to damage of trees and vegetation from EMR exposures
• Environmental devastation from astronomical increases of approximately 124,416 lbs. of CO2 per city every day, or 1.6 trillion lbs. of carbon per year nationwide emissions from powering up the 5G DAS infrastructure 24/7 (and this does not include the carbon footprint created from all the other IoT network and clouds)
• Fiber optics is the best and only solution. They are energy efficient, less vulnerable to shut down due to EMP or hacking, and do not create hazardous RF emissions that cause damage to health and the environment
• Russia has denied 5G rollout in their country. Instead, they are utilizing fiber optic cables to deliver the internet to every private resident.

If you have any question please email Mark at mark.graham@scientists4wiredtech.com

WE RETURN YOU NOW TO OUR SCHEDULED PROGRAMMING…

A Threat to Us All
For the growing numbers of electro-sensitive people in our population, adding the 5G antenna network to the current electro-magnetic soup in which we already live would intensify it into a living nightmare. For the rest of us, it would speed our joining their ranks. The 5G antenna rollout would combine all other frequencies currently being used for wireless devices (3G, 4G) plus unlimited bandwidth for the Telecom vision of wirelessly connecting everything such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and driverless cars. Despite industry and government denials and cover-up attempts,independent research data shows conclusively that man-made radiation, much stronger than natural background radiation, disrupts human beings and other living creatures, since we are electro-chemical beings exquisitely tuned to the natural environment.

The attached pictures show the true size of the base of some of these so-called ‘small’ cells. Placed every four to twelve houses and in rural areas, even more frequently, these antennas represent a huge intrusion into our common space. There would be no escape, not even in our homes, not even in rural areas. All living things would be effected.

80 Ohio cities filed suit against Ohio because of the passage of Senate Bill 331 that, as one Mayor put it, “… effectively prohibits cities from regulating the placement of wireless facilities in our communities. This will impact the streetscapes of our communities and reduce area property values.”

But danger to local democratic choice and property values pales in relation to the dangers to public health and safety posed by these boiler plate bills that are being pushed in various versions state-by-state by the telecom industry. The California clone bill now before the legislature is SB 649.

In California the growing municipal push-back already includes the City of San Francisco, the California League of Cities and the Marin County Council of Mayors and Council members and Santa Cruz County (as of April 12.)

OPPOSITION: (as of April 4, 2017)
American Planning Association
CA Chapter of the American Planning Association
California State Association of Counties
City of Buena Park
City of Chino Hills
City of Citrus Heights
City of Cloverdale
City of Dublin
City of Hayward
City of Indian Wells
City of Lafayette
City of Laguna Beach Mayor
City of Lakeport
City of Lodi
City of Murrieta
City of National City
City of Nevada City
City of Norwalk
City of Point Arena
City of Roseville
City of Santa Clara
City of Santee
City of Thousand Oaks
City of Vista
EMF Safety Network
Ecological Options Network
League of California Cities
Marin County Council of Mayors and
Councilmembers
Northern California Power Agency
Protect our Local Streets Coalition
Rural County Representatives of California
Scientists for Wired Technology
Town of Danville
Town of Hillsborough
Urban Counties of California
An Individual

Why Resist?
Ecological Options Network opposes this bill because it would fast track wireless radiation antenna deployments in our neighborhoods and communities, remove all regulations protecting public and environmental rights, thwart public participation and expose us and all lifeforms to exponentially increased harmful radiation.

The telecommunication industry, like the tobacco industry, still denies the scientifically established effects of their product. That the Dept. of Defense uses the same frequency as 5G in their crowd control weapon belies that denial. The ‘Active Denial’ weapon directs a beam of 5G – like millimeter waves that cause unbearably intense burning pain.

5G millimeter wave technology is scientifically shown to affect humans, penetrating the skin and affecting all biological systems.

(Thanks to Nina Beety)
Microwave radiation is a Class 2B – possible — carcinogen according to the World Health Organization IARC, but last year the NIH National Toxicology Program found cellphone radiation caused cancer. The NTP released final peer-reviewed results that 1 in 12 male rats – 8.5% — developed malignant brain tumors, malignant heart tumors, or precancerous lesions when exposed to wireless radiation for only two years, 9 hours per day. Ken Foster of the industry association Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) said he

“wouldn’t be surprised if California adds RF radiation to its Proposition 65 list of carcinogenic chemicals, and if the IARC ups its classification rating from 2B: possibly carcinogenic to humans to 2A: probably carcinogenic to humans.”

Ron Melnick. now retired who led the NTP study’s design team, said,

“The NTP tested the hypothesis that cell phone radiation could not cause health effects and that hypothesis has now been disproved.”

Then, in March,
ABC 7: CA HEALTH DEPT. RELEASES REPORT SAYING CELLPHONE USE MAY CAUSE CANCER
Now a new report says that the state of California may have kept information about the cancer risk secret. This is significant because it comes from a government agency and it mentions radiation and its harmful effects. It also mentioned that children are more susceptible to the effects of radiation.

A lawsuit by a director of UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health forced the release of this public advisory.

Research has previously found cancer clusters around cell towers, up to ¼ mile away. Wireless radiation is associated with breaches in the blood-brain barrier, DNA damage, changes in the blood, heart rhythm disturbances, neurological, cognitive function, and immune impacts, cancers and tumors, migraines, and insomnia.

The League of California Cities opposes SB-649. They describe it stating, “This proposal unnecessarily and unconstitutionally strips local authority over public property and shuts out public input and local discretion by eliminating consideration of the aesthetic and environmental impacts of “small cells.”

How to Oppose this bill (thanks to Lena Pu and Nina Beety)

California Bill SB 649 is at the Governance and Finance Committee right now. Please write or call the senators and tell them to vote ’NO’ to CA Bill SB 649. In addition to writing and/or calling, please write on their twitter account; your comments will be perpetually in cyberspace and everyone will see it. And we need as many people to show up at the hearing on April 26, 9:30am, Room 112 at the Sacramento Capitol.

Anton Favorini-Csorba is the consultant writing the legislative analysis of SB 649 for the Senate Governance and Finance Committee. Written opposition is due as soon as possible so that he can include the names of groups and entities opposing SB 649 in the analysis; absolute deadline is next Wednesday, April 19. If you have arguments you want considered in the analysis, send him the info asap.

You can also send it to https://calegislation.lc.ca.gov/Advocates/ You have to create an account first.

A copy should also be sent to the author of the bill as a “courtesy” — in this case, Sen. Hueso.

Senator Mike McGuire (Chair) 2nd Senate Dist — North Coast/North Bay, State Capitol Rm. 5061, email: senator.mcguire@senate.ca.gov, Phone: 916-651-4002
Senator Janet Nguyen (Vice Chair) 34th Senate Dist — NW Orange County, State Capitol Rm. 3048, email via website portal, Phone: (916) 651-4034
Senator Jim Beall 15th Senate Dist — Including cities of San Jose, Campbell, Cupertino, State Capitol Rm. 2082, email via website portal, Phone: (916) 651-4015
Senator Ed Hernandez 22nd Senate Dist — San Gabriel Valley communities, State Capitol Rm. 2080, email via website portal,Phone: (916) 651-4022
Senator Robert M. Hertzberg 18th Senate Dist — San Fernando Valley, State Capitol Rm. 4038, email via website portal, Phone: (916) 651-4018
Senator Ricardo Lara 33rd Senate Dist — LA & LA County-various cities, State Capitol Rm. 5050, email via website portal, Phone: (916) 651-4033
Senator John M. W. Moorlach 37th Senate Dist — Much of Orange County, State Capitol Rm. 2048, email via website portal, Phone: (916) 651-4037

Send your comments also to your State Senator which you can find here: Type in your address and city. https://findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov/

To help with your letters, calls and/or public comments, here are some sound bites relating to the Governance & Finance Committee.:

– Taking away property rights will result in lowered property value
– Lowered property value will then lead to lowered property tax revenues
– Increase in health care costs due to growing health problems amongst the population
– Lowered productivity at work due to negative health impacts from the increased wireless radiation exposures
– Lloyd’s of London and Swiss Re, two major insurance companies of the world, will not cover medical expenses incurred due to exposure to electromagnetic radio frequency radiation (EMR) (i.e. cellphones, wifi, cell tower, antennas, DAS, IoT devices, smart meters, etc.)
– Environmental devastation from loss of oxygen producing foliage due to damage of trees and vegetation from EMR exposures
– Environmental devastation from astronomical increases of approximately 124,416 lbs. of CO2 per each city with populations over 35,000 every day, or 1.6 trillion lbs. of carbon per year nationwide emissions from powering up the 5G infrastructure 24/7 (and this does not include the carbon footprint created from all the other Internet of Things (IoT) network and the storage clouds.)
– Fiber optics is the best and only solution. Fiber Optics are energy efficient, not prone to hacking, and do not create hazardous EMR emissions that causes damage to health and the environment

Also Tell City of Sacramento ‘No’ to 5G pilot program:

Please send letters of opposition to the proposed rollout of 5G pilot program in the City of Sacramento by writing to:
1 Darrell Steinberg Mayor, City of Sacramento
2 Maria MacGunigal Chief Information Officer, City of Sacramento
3 Head of Planning Department, City of Sacramento
4 Joyce Terhaar is Executive editor and Senior Vice President, Sacramento Bee

Thank you so much for your care and involvement! We need to band together and not let our homes, city, state and country be bullied into relinquishing our constitutional rights to health and safety and well being!

EMF Safety Network and Ecological Options Network sent this letter in opposition to SB-649 author Sen. Hueso.

Here is a sample letter for Sen. McGuire:
Dear Senator Sen. McGuire,

I respectfully oppose SB-649. This proposal unnecessarily and unconstitutionally strips local authority over public property and shuts out public input and local discretion by eliminating consideration of the aesthetic and environmental impacts of “small cells.”

The attached pictures show the true size of the base of these so-called ‘small’ cells. Placed every four to twelve houses and in rural areas, even more frequently, these antennas represent a huge intrusion into our common space.

It is unthinkable that telecommunication corporations would be exempt from municipal considerations. This would be a huge concession of public rights to corporate desires held by no other industry.

SB 649 intends to minimize costs for the telecom corporations, yet it could dramatically lower real estate value for those homes on whose premises the antennas are forced. This in turn, would lower the tax base for the locality and negatively effect overall municipal and county income.

The increased extensive use of transmitting radios for this 5G rollout can also affect overall costs from climate chaos. Calculations of the additional electrical power needed to run such huge numbers of additional transmitting radios show that at least 1.6 trillion more pounds of CO2 would be added each year nationally.

The telecommunication industry, like the tobacco industry, still denies the scientifically established effects of their product. That the Dept. of Defense uses the same frequency as 5G as a foundation for their ‘Active Denial’ crowd control weapon belies that denial. The Active Denial weapon directs a beam of 5G – like millimeter waves that cause unbearably intense burning pain.

5G millimeter wave technology is scientifically shown to affect humans, penetrating the skin and affecting all biological systems.

There is no substantial evidence to support SB 649’s determination that the deployment fits the CEQA exemption. There is substantial evidence in support of a fair argument that the project would indeed create environmental impacts.

SB 649 goes too far by requiring local governments to approve “small cells” in all land use zones, including residential zones, through a ministerial permit, thereby shutting the public out of decisions that could affect the aesthetics of their community and the quality of their environment.

Please oppose SB 649.

Thank you!
[your name]

Thanks for taking action!

From our friends at Maryland SmartMeter Awareness:

The new 5G technology will impact us all in a very serious way. FCC Chair, Tom Wheeler, wants virtually everything to be connected via 5G which will launch a whole slew of new frequencies, and no testing whatsoever. Please read the email below and consider writing a letter to the FCC and our elected reps. Our voice must be heard over that of industry.

Thank you,
The MSMA Team

As you may have already heard, July 14th is the day set for the FCC to vote on Tom Wheeler’s vision of 5G in the USA. He wants to be “first out the gate.” Wheeler says, “Turning innovators loose is far preferable to expecting committees and regulators to define the future.” A full highlighted PDF version of Wheeler’s talk from last week is attached.
I am certain a cursory reading of the talk will inspire you to write a strong letter to the FCC and others.

Calls and letters to the FCC, Representatives, Senators and relevant committees are needed by the thousands!!!!! …by July 13th. Please share this info widely and post wherever possible. Most important to contact is the House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology since they will vote July 12 on their recommendation to the FCC who will vote July 14.

Below is a package prepared mostly by www.electricalpollution.com which offers guidance in letter writing and contacting representatives.

And if that talk doesn’t suffice, please read and circulate Captured Agency: How the Federal Communications Commission is Dominated by the Industries it Presumably Regulates, by Norm Alster, published by Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, Harvard University.

Also, for a brief summary of Wheeler’s proposal, see https://smartgridawareness.org/2014/07/15/you-might-have-a-base-station-on-every-house/

EXCERPTS FROM WHEELER’S TALK:

If the Commission approves my proposal next month, the United States will be the first country in the world to open up high-band spectrum for 5G networks and applications. And that’s damn important because it means U.S. companies will be first out of the gate.

We will be repeating the proven formula that made the United States the world leader in 4G. It’s a simple formula: Lead the world in spectrum availability, encourage and protect innovation- driving competition, and stay out of the way of technological development.

Unlike some countries, we do not believe we should spend the next couple of years studying what 5G should be, how it should operate, and how to allocate spectrum, based on those assumptions. Like the examples I gave earlier, the future has a way of inventing itself. Turning innovators loose is far preferable to expecting committees and regulators to define the future. We won’t wait for the standards to be first developed in the sometimes arduous standards-setting process or in a government-led activity. Instead, we will make ample spectrum available and then rely on a private sector-led process for producing technical standards best suited for those frequencies and use cases.

ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE

www.electricalpollution.com

Help Stop 5G Wireless – a dangerous radiation intensive technology!

The FCC is voting on whether to move forward with 5G, an extremely dangerous technology. Read Chairman Wheelers comments about the Spectrum Frontiers Proceeding (https://www.fcc.gov/document/remarks-chairman-wheeler-future-wireless). This would put 5G transmitters on power and light poles throughout communities across the United States with the aim of creating enough saturation of very high frequency microwave radiation that fiber optic level connectivity is available wirelessly everywhere.

We will need as many people as possible from the U.S. and around the world, including experts, to contact the FCC by July 13, 2016. They vote on the proposal on July 14, 2016.

Please take a moment to contact the FCC Commissioners BEFORE their vote on July 14 in opposition to the rollout of 5G. A template letter is below, please take a moment personalize it briefly with your experience to give it greater impact.

Phone #’s for FCC Commissioners:
202-418-1000 (Tom Wheeler)
202-418-2000
202-418-2100
202-418-2300
202-418-2400

Send letters to the following Commissioners:

Tom Wheeler, Chairman Tom.Wheeler@fcc.gov
Mignon Clyburn, Commissioner Mignon.Clyburn@fcc.gov
Jessica Rosenworcel, Commissioner Jessica.Rosenworcel@fcc.gov
Ajit Pai, Commissioner Ajit.Pai@fcc.gov
Michael O’Rielly, Commissioner Mike.O’Rielly@fcc.gov

Please send a copy of your letter also to your U.S. Representative and Senators and the relevant committees (listed below). It was Congress that decided to give sole responsibility for wireless promotion and safety to the FCC, an industry dominated agency. It is essential that they hear from you. Only they can give authority for health back to the EPA, which has tried in the past to protect the public. Congress defunded EPA and removed its authority to protect the public from wireless radiation to stop it (https://www.stopglobalwifi.org/documents/PressReleaseDec2015.pdf).

Contact your Congressional Delegation
(2 Senators and 1 Representative) Look them up and find their phone and FAX numbers at: https://www.senate.gov/ and https://www.house.gov/representatives/

Call the White House
tel: 202-456-1111
Ask President Obama to halt the rollout of 5G in light of the safety hazards. President Obama can also be emailed using the form at https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact

Congressional Committees

Ask for oversight hearings on dangers of societal saturation with radiation from wireless technology. Most important to contact is the House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology since they will vote July 12 on their recommendation to the FCC who will vote July 14.

Subcommittee on Communications and Technology

https://eon3emfblog.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Communications-and-Technology-Subcommittee1-1.pdf

House Energy and Commerce Committee – (202) 225-2927
House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform: (202) 225-5074

U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions – (202)-224-5375 https://www.help.senate.gov/ links to contact the two ranking members on webpage
U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation – Majority: 202-224-1251, Minority: 202-224-0411 U.S.
Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources – (202) 224-4971

Click here for the contact info for all members of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

SAMPLE LETTER

Dear FCC Commissioners,

Spectrum Frontiers Proceeding is being represented as an unqualified good, but it is not. It will do great harm to human health and the environment.

Please vote “no” to the Spectrum Frontiers Proceeding. There has been no NEPA review of the environmental and human health impacts of moving forward with 5G. The FCC has put the cart before the horse in promulgating rules for 5G without first studying the safety of 5G for humans and the environment. There is consensus within the scientific community that the existing FCC limits for wireless radiation do not protect the population from biological effects (https://www.emfscientist.org) The National Toxicology Program recently release results showing that radiofrequency radiation (RFR) can indeed both break DNA and cause cancer (https://www.saferemr.com/2016/05/national-toxicology-progam-finds-cell.html and https://microwavenews.com/news-center/ntp-nyt).

Furthermore, the literature on RFR in the very high frequency bands required for 5G document DNA breakages, serious cellular resonance effects, and other detrimental metabolic effects (https://www.bioinitiative.org/report/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/sec15_2012_Evidence_Disruption_Modulation.pdf and https://www.stopglobalwifi.org/documents/2001_kositsky_et_al._-_ussr_review.pdf). Non-industry funded studies have consistently found links between RFR and various negative biological effects (www.bioinitiative.org). They include serious neurological, cardiac, and metabolic effects, as well as DNA breakage which can lead to cancer and genetic defects (https://www.mainecoalitiontostopsmartmeters.org/?%20p=1469). Studies, including the National Toxicology Program studies, have shown wireless to be a dangerous technology and 5G, according to Chairman Wheeler’s own comments, is an infrastructure intensive technology. So, invest in safe, wired infrastructure instead of spending a lot of money to saturate entire communities with hazardous radiation. The “cool” factor is not worth the peril. Please see “Wireless Technology Violates Human Rights” (https://www.electricalpollution.com/documents/WirelessViolatesHumanRights2016.pdf) for more information about the very serious ways in which wireless technology violates human rights.

Don’t vote to unleash a dangerous environmental pollutant on your friends, family, and, indeed, the whole country. Vote to protect your family, friends, and the country – vote “no” on Spectrum Frontiers. Be on the right side of history.

Sincerely,
Your name

Thanks for taking the time to do this…it feels a bit like a lost cause – But..as the Good Book tells us, We are not obligated to complete the task, but neither may we desist from trying. (Ethics of our Fathers)

Copyright © 2016 Maryland Smart Meter Awareness, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you signed up on our website at https://MarylandSmartMeterAwareness.org
Our mailing address is:
Maryland Smart Meter Awareness
2507 Willow Glen Dr.
Baltimore, MD 21209

From our friend Kevin Mottus

See Communications-and-Technology-Subcommittee for the complete list of relevant House Members contact information:

STOP the FCC Vote to Release New High Band Spectrum (above 24Ghz) for the 5G network. [ Fact Sheet pdf ] It means more harmful frequency, more small cell transmitters and END TO ALL LANDLINES. Demand that the EPA not the FCC establish and maintain the safety standards for non-thermal biological effects for wireless radiation before rolling our more wireless spectrum.

Vote, Announcement, & Roll Out- Thursday, July 14th, 10:30am EST-Room TW-C305, FCC 445 12th St SW, Washington DC (See Attached)

Demand These Congress Members protect us from harm. According to Martin Pall PhD, we know 4G is harmful and reports from other countries in Europe and South Korea say it is making more people sick because it pulses more. We know from the NTP study that harm is not about power and heating but more about frequency, wave length and pulsation. 5G heats less but it pulses more. None of these transmitters have been tested for non-thermal effects which the NTP study proved causes cancer and is neurotoxic.

Please call, email and ideally visit the US Senate and House Committees with Oversight over the FCC. We have researched it for you. Their names, pictures, email addresses, phone numbers, chiefs of staff, and the staff member with responsibility for the FCC are listed. Try to hit Chief of Staff as well as legislative staff. Chiefs of Staff definitely have more power and have the ear of the Senator or House member. This is the “Committee Members – U.S. Senate Committee On Commerce, Science, & Transportation Senate list. Please call the FCC commissioners as well-see attached.

Start emailing, calling and visiting now. I am in DC with others working to educate lawmakers. If you are visiting offices, I suggest you go separately or in pairs and represent different groups. You can say info is circulating on the internet and many many groups are outraged.

If you are Electromagnetically Intolerant tell them your symptoms; this way we may identify staff members who are also ES who can help us.

Kevin Mottus

Is the CPUC beyond reform? Three state legislators don’t think so.
by James Heddle and Mary Beth Brangan
[cross-posted on PlanetarianPerspectives.net]

The Iron Law of PUC Corruption
In 2006 Werner Troesken published a paper in the National Bureau of Economic Research publication ‘Corruption and Reform: Lessons from America’s Economic History’ entitled Regime Change and Corruption. A History of Public Utility Regulation. In it Troesken looked at the history of public utilities commissions and wondered why, despite both public and private attempts at reform, utility regulation seems always to lapse into corruption. Here’s how he describes his hypotheses and research findings in what might be called Troesken’s Iron Law of PUC Corruption:

“First, corruption is endemic to public utility industries; corruption exists, in some form, across all regulatory and ownership regimes. Second, regime change in utility industries does not eliminate corruption; it only alters the type of corruption observed. Third, for any type of governance regime (e.g., state regulation or municipal ownership) corruption grows increasingly severe over time and, at some point, becomes politically untenable.” pg. 260

He concludes,

“Based on the historical evidence presented above it appears that corruption, and the necessity to eliminate corruption when it gets too costly, accounts for the efficacy of regime change. In this context, the direction of regime change—from public to private, or private to public—is of second-order importance. What matters is some radical reshuffling of the institutional matrix to disrupt the underlying corrupt relationships. Unfortunately, this disruption is only temporary, and gradually new forms of corruption emerge and must again be broken down by institutional change.” Pg. 278

PUCs’ Dominant Corruption Gene – President Picker’s Perplex
California’s Public Utilities Commission could serve as the poster child for Troesken’s Iron Law. The CPUC was established in 1911 under progressive era Governor Hiram Johnson as a result of a popular initiative and constitutional amendment stimulated by widespread public outrage about Robber Railroad Barrons’ corruption of California’s politics and economy.

Over the years the Commission has grown into a complex, hydra-headed bureaucracy, which – despite its mind-boggling system of functionaries, rules and procedures – is nevertheless vulnerable to manipulation by both internal and external actors.

Now, a century later, the agency intended to protect the public against corporate greed and incompetence has become, as former CPUC President Loretta Lynch puts it, “a rogue agency.” Almost daily revelations of endemic corruption continue to suggest a system approaching unreformability.

Newly appointed President Michael Picker – long a Gov. Brown insider – has promised ‘transparency,’ while, at the same time, the agency is spending up to $5.2 million for the services of the high end law firm Sheppard Mullin to respond to the multiple criminal investigations now underway. The first task of Sheppard Mullin was to advise on which documents to release, withhold or redact in the face of public record requests in order to protect the CPUC from too much transparency.

‘Regime Change’ for the CPUC? AB 825
So, following Troesken’s Iron Law, what would constitute a “radical reshuffling of the institutional matrix to disrupt the underlying corrupt relationships,” even if the effects of “this disruption is only temporary?”

On February 6, 2015 California Assemblymember Anthony Rendon, whose 63rd District covers nine SoCal cities and a swath of northern Long Beach, introduced Assembly Bill 825 which aims at answer that question. As amended in the Assembly on April 20, 2015, AB 825 would amend and revise portions of the state’s Public Utilities Code, relating to the Public Utilities Commission. California State Senators Jerry Hill and Mark Leno have also weighed in with amendment suggestions. Sen. Leno is sponsoring SB 215, a parallel CPUC reform bill in the State Senate.

Assemblymember Rendon’s office is soliciting suggestions about the proposed bill and will hold a meeting in Sacramento on Thursday, May 7 to listen to input. [Background info PDF’s provided by his office are here and here. ] Address your suggestions to Alf W. Brandt, Legislative Director, Assemblymember Anthony Rendon State Capitol – Room 5136, Sacramento, California 95814 e-mail: Alf.Brandt@asm.ca.gov

EON will submit the following recommendations and continue to report on this important issue. As ‘official intervenors’ on behalf of the public interest in CPUC proceedings over the last several years, we have a few preliminary issue suggestions we hope a final bill combining AB 825 and SB 215 – as eventually passed – will address:

We need rigorous enforcement of CPUC sections 451 & 453 (b) that have been egregiously ignored in the case of the forced installation of so-called ‘smart’ meters.
Particularly:

451 ” Every public utility shall furnish and maintain such adequate, efficient, just, and reasonable service, instrumentalities, equipment, and facilities … as are necessary to promote the safety, health, comfort, and convenience of its patrons, employees, and the public.” [emphasis added]

and

453 (b) “No public utility shall prejudice, disadvantage, or require different rates or deposit amounts from a person because of ancestry, medical condition, marital status or change in marital status, occupation, or any characteristic listed or defined in Section 11135 of the Government Code.” [emphasis added]

In the case of “smart” meters, thousands of ratepayers vociferously objected to the forced installation of the electronic RF-emitting meters. Hundreds reported serious health affects and injuries.
Those suffering from exposure to banks of multiple meters in apartments, condominiums and business offices are at serious risk. Fires, interference with other wireless devices, bill over-charging and privacy impacts from the microwave-emitting meter’s mega-data-gathering to be sold to third parties are all impacts that were reported to a non-responsive CPUC in addition to the adverse health effects. Despite people objecting in many ways, the CPUC ignored their pleas and instituted an upfront and monthly fee for those demanding to retain the old mechanical meter. This is paying to NOT have this dangerous meter that Attorney General reports from Illinois and other states have determined to have no advantage to ratepayers.

In a stinging letter to the state Department of Public Utilities Commission, for instance, a lawyer from Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office pointed to large-scale tests in Illinois and elsewhere in which the meters failed to justify their costs. Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette filed suit in the state appeals court, stating that there is no net economic benefit to consumers resulting from the use of smart meters and that there is unlikely to be any future benefit. The court of appeals agreed. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan agreed with Schuette, stating: “The utilities have shown no evidence of billions of dollars in benefits to consumers from these new meters, but they have shown they know how to profit. “

Unimpeded Media Access in accordance with California’s 2004 Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act for both corporate AND independent media organizations and citizen journalists.

Ex parte Rule Violations must be prosecuted and prevented by a change in the Commission’s management culture. The institutionalized attitude toward ‘public advocates as enemies’ and utility officials as friends must be changed.

Authentic Public Access to Commissioners – Members of the public and advocacy group representatives should be able to meet with Commissioners and their aides with appropriate ex parte reporting, not just utility executives. Commissioners and staff must officially receive and register communications from the public.

Complaint Processing – Public complaints should be officially received and published online as well as concrete actions taken to address the problems.

Transparency in Renewable Energy Accounting – The CPUC should mandate utilities to track solar roof top electricity generation in order to be able to fully utilize it via substations. The amount of renewable energy thus generated should be transparently reported. Currently, it is not tracked.

Transparency in Utilities’ Energy Efficiency Program Reporting – CPUC awarded large bonuses to utilities for unsubstantiated Energy Efficiency Program gains. CPUC currently gives ratepayer-based Energy Efficiency funds to utilities and disallows them to be used by cities and other entities who have no conflict of interest in saving energy and whose EE programs have genuinely produced results in the past.

Public Comments – Members of the public and advocacy group representatives must be allowed to speak in the ‘open comment’ period before business meetings without unfair limits being imposed. Spokespeople should not be prohibited from speaking on a given issue if they have already addressed it in previous meetings.

Administrative Law Judges must be randomly chosen, not ‘shopped’ for their friendliness to the interests of certain parties in Commission proceedings. Attorney Larry Bragman, formerly Mayor of Fairfax, CA and current Marin County Water Board Member, who has familiarity with past and current CPUC functioning, puts it this way:

“The CPUC’s administrative law judges should be assigned cases randomly (as in Federal and State Court) and not by the commissioners. That would reduce the influence of individual commission members to cherry pick judges and influence hearings.

“Once assigned a case, the law should require that ALJ’s adhere to the same judicial code of conduct and ethics that Superior Court judges follow. No more back door meetings with litigants or commissioners.”

Commissioners Should be Elected, rather than appointed. Elections should be open to candidates from all stakeholder sectors, not just corporate and political circles and utility-friendly NGOs, but from Citizen Groups as well.

Legal Challenge of Decisions – proceeding decisions must be open to direct and timely challenge in Superior Court, rather than in the appellate courts.

Online User Friendliness – the Commission website should be updated and streamlined to support non-expert access. Complex forms should be simplified. The video archive should be upgraded for greater video quality and accessibility.

Overly complex and burdensome technical and procedural barriers to public and intervenor input should be removed.

Intervenor Compensation Requests should be evaluated and ruled upon by a randomly-chosen Administrative Law Judge other than the ALJ of the proceeding in which the intervenor participated. Compensation payments should not be punitively manipulated or delayed in relation to the identity or policy position of the intervenor .

We observed an example of this when a dying intervenor’s compensation was deliberately withheld by the CPUC, though it was known, according to a former CPUC Commissioner who spoke with someone in the business office, that the money was needed for the intervenor’s cancer treatment. The check arrived after her death.

We support California legislators Rendon, Hill and Leno in their efforts at CPUC ‘regime change,’ while remembering Troesken’s Iron Law, “What matters is some radical reshuffling of the institutional matrix to disrupt the underlying corrupt relationships. Unfortunately, this disruption is only temporary, and gradually new forms of corruption emerge and must again be broken down by institutional change.”

Nineteenth century abolitionist Wendell Phillips put it this way in a speech before the Massachusetts Antislavery Society in 1852, “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.”

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James Heddle and Mary Beth Brangan co-direct EON – The Ecological Options Network

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