Login / RegisterCitizens for Safe Technology prods Vancouver city council for action on smart meters
Downtown Vancouver–based actressJoely Collins believes Vancouver city council can make a huge statement on the smart meter issue by joining cities like Burnaby, Richmond, and White Rock in putting renewed pressure on the provincial government to enact a moratorium.
“I’m really frustrated by it, because obviously Vancouver is a very powerful municipality, and so by them not moving forward in this…they could potentially have the ability to swing the change on this,” Collins, daughter of English musician Phil Collins, told the Straight by phone. “I just really wish that Vancouver would get onboard and address the real issues.”
Collins said she and her mother, Gulf Islands–based environmentalist Andrea Collins, have been working with Citizens for Safe Technology to try and get all municipalities to call for a moratorium on mandatory installation of the meters.
As of April 4, 39 municipalities had asked for either a moratorium or an opt-out clause over health and privacy concerns, with Vancouver being the notable holdout, according to the CST website.
The pressure is being brought to bear because Energy Minister Rich Coleman ignored a motion, passed at the 2011 Union of B.C. Municipalities annual convention in Vancouver, calling for a moratorium on B.C. Hydro’s installation of the meters, which will see a total of 1.8 million of the devices in homes and businesses by the end of the year.
Speaking by phone, Andrea Collins said she and Joely have contacted Mayor Gregor Robertson and council many times.
“[Coun.] Andrea Reimer was the one I spoke to the most, and she just said, ‘We have other, more important issues to deal with,’ ” Andrea Collins told the Straight. “She didn’t see it as important enough an issue to put it on the agenda.…Until someone actually makes a motion and puts it on the agenda [at council], we can’t speak.”
Coun. Kerry Jang ruled out that possibility.
“No, we will not bring a motion to council, simply because the evidence is mixed,” Jang told the Straight by phone from his office at City Hall. “It’s not clear, and so we want to take it through the UBCM. There is no need for a motion through council, because we have no authority to enforce the moratorium.”
Jang was elected to the UBCM executive following his reelection under the Vision Vancouver banner last November. He said he voted in favour of the 2011 moratorium and expected it to come back this year in slightly revised form. Jang, a UBC professor of psychiatry, was hesitant to offer a personal opinion on smart meters.
“As a scientist, I look at the data,” he said. “So I cannot willingly sign on to something, or endorse a motion in council, when I think that the evidence is not there.”
Jang said he will meet with anyone wanting to discuss the issue, if they put in a formal request at City Hall.
Smart meters are our best chance at reducing our already over-the-limit energy usage as a society, lets make every hour of every day "earth hour", lets get those smart meters into every home in Canada ASAP and lets stop listening to these egotistical loudmouths that want to fight against yet another good innovation.
I for one support time of usage costs. It's not about the money. It's about nudging people's behaviour in ways that reduce our carbon footprint and need for new hydro-electric projects. Keep BC beautiful!
Walter Patrick McGinnis
1. Many people choose not to own or use any wireless technologies. Just because something has been invented doesn't mean it's a good thing.
2. Only because a Judge ordered it did PG&E in California finally confess (in November 2011) the real number of RF signals/pulses relayed per day from one smart meter.
PG&E's Big Confession - EMF Safety Network - November 03, 2011 (includes # of RF pulses from SDG&E and SoCalGas report pdf's):
- http://emfsafetynetwork.org/?p=6030
"about 10,000, per meter, per day and the maximum number of 190,000".
And this is before Wi-Fi-enhanced home appliances add their loads to a household.
As well, "PG&E electric meter transmits at 900MHz with 1 watt of transmit power. It has an antennae gain 4.0 dBi for a peak level power of 2.5 watts." which is 2.5X more than their safety data stated.
Then you need to add in the RF loads from wireless gas and wireless water meters.
We are all guinea pigs. And it's not right. This is an enormous and non-consensual experiment on people, animals, insects, and plants. I thought the Nuremberg Trials ended these kinds of experiments.
3. The whole smart meter issue has brought human rights and democracy to the forefront. People have the rights to protect their health, privacy, safety, and security. And in these times of financial duress around the world, no business or government should be forcing people to spend billions of dollars to replace something that still works.
4. People all over the world are being made ill by the installations of wireless smart meters on their homes/businesses and in their neighbourhoods.
- http://www.citizensforsafetechnology.org/Doctors-Information-Package-for...
- http://stopsmartmeters.com.au/2012/03/30/open-letter-to-the-premier/
- http://citizensforsafetechnology.org/Electromagnetic-Hypersensitivity-Fa...
- http://www.kamloopsnews.ca/article/20120224/KAMLOOPS0101/120229824/-1/ka...
- http://emfsafetynetwork.org/?p=6959
- http://www.emfacts.com/2012/01/electromagnetic-intolerance-elucidated/
- http://citizensforsafetechnology.org/Effects-of-Electromagnetic-Radiatio...
- http://smartmeterskill.com/?p=692
- http://chly.ca/b-c-hydro-reverses-smart-meter-with-analog-meter/
- http://www.bclocalnews.com/news/131475878.html
- http://www2.macleans.ca/2011/10/13/refugees-in-their-own-land/
- http://www.commonground.ca/iss/243/cg243_smartmeters.shtml
- http://stopsmartmeters.org/2011/12/02/sensitive-and-inside-big-technolog...
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-14887428
- http://smartmeterhelp.com/
- http://stopsmartmeters.com.au/2012/03/26/sick-with-palpitations-chest-pa...
- http://stopsmartmeters.com.au/2012/03/27/headaches-severe-head-pressure-...
- cost
- health
- higher utility bills
- privacy
- safety
- security
Sometimes, their utility commissions listen to the customers and help them. Sometimes they do not. Sometimes their MLA's/MP's/State Senators listen to their constituents and help them. Sometimes they do not. Legal cases are being pursued in many provinces, states, and countries.
It all boils down to democracy: people making their own choices, not being mandated by governments and big business telling them what is "good for them".
Opt-outs are happening here:
- Quebec
- Netherlands
- UK (United Kingdom)
- USA (California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, Vermont)
And the State of Victoria, Australia is demanding a Moratorium because of smart meter explosions and fires.
But realize that even if someone opts out of a smart meter, they will still be exposed and bombarded by RF (EMR) 24/7, 360 degrees from all smart meters in the vicinity. Wi-Max to be used in rural areas is particularly strong so as to provide coverage over rough topography, through mountains, trees, plants, and buildings.
Governments are allowing utilities to use world citizens as guinea pigs in a huge experiment. Here is an interesting video:
We Are EMR Guinea Pigs by minivanjack - YouTube - April 02, 2012:
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8i2uXhKLFys&feature=player_embedded
A global "Smart Grid" program is being implemented which is blasting homes and businesses with more electromagnetic radiation than human beings have ever been subject to in human history. It is utterly preposterous to assume this will not lead to major human epidemics.
We must now face the very serious problem that the institutions, government, corporations and foundations, that are supposed to be serving our interests are deliberately violating, exploiting and endangering us.
This video exposes electromagnetic radiation (EMR) as a major danger and violation to all current and future generations.
Sponsored by FreedomTaker (d'o't'c'o'm)
It's well known now that mega-billion dollar cellphone industry has covered up, biased, or generally obfuscated the science. This is very much like the tobacco industry historically, on it's affecting many times more people, in ways ranging from subtle (sleeplessness, palpitations, migraines, foggy thinking, etc) to fatal (cancer-causing). As one out of DOZENS of examples: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YBxyY8FoOs
Smart meters are not even active yet in BC. Employees at BC Hydro have even said (paraphrased), "just wait until the whole grid goes live." A smart meter room has been measured at 190,000 microwatts/m2 here in BC. The test was one immediately after install, before the meters went dormant, in which phase they stay do until a collector hub activates them. This film is the truth about Smart Meters in BC: http://www.thepowerfilm.org
This whole agenda benefits absolutely no one except corporations, and there have been ZERO energy savings in any regions with smart meters. Now we're hearing the whole life-supporting power grid is going to be completely hackable. It's a trojan horse, with governments around teh world all changing laws in order to quietly install their grid without many people really knowing what's going on.
Linda, did you read the actual questions and answers? I'm guessing you didn't. This is the problem with trusting what is displayed on "agenda based" web sites like the emf safety network's - they have spun it. If you read the document they linked to (which they do to give an air of authenticity, but they know you won't actually read it), it says that, at worst, the meters transmit for 875 seconds/day....that is a little over 14 minutes. Or to put it another way, it is 0.009 of the day.
In addition, who are these 'many people' you speak of.....given the the telephone companies are having trouble justifying the handful of pay phones left in the country due to lack of use, I have to assume your use of "many" is a great embellishment....just like the rest of your argument.
You forgot the word "credible", as in "there have been no _credible_ reports of that nature". That's a rather important distinction.
"Also unless his expertize is in the Biological effects man-made electromagnetic radiation his scientific credentials have no bearing on this issue what so ever."
Guess what? I do have expertise in the biological effects of electromagnetic radiation (and whether it's man-made or not is irrelevant—it's all the same). There is no mechanism by which extremely low-power radio waves can have the biological affects attributed to them by those who oppose smart meters (or wi-fi). If there is no mechanism, there can be no causal relationship. We are bathed in electromagnetic radiation of far higher frequency (i.e. energy) than radio waves at far greater intensities than are emitted by smart meters (or wi-fi, or mobile phones) for far greater periods every day. It's called light.
Um, don't bananas fall into the same category? I think they do - they contain radioactive potassium.
Wikipidea on bananas:
Is anyone afraid of bananas?
Here's the definition of Group 2B carcinogens:
So, bananas definitely contain radioactive potassium, but Group 2B (does not include bananas it turns out) possibly is carcinogenic.
Also, if you're concerned about EMF radiation from your so-called smart metre, broadcasting at 1 watt (okay, 2.5 dB gain might be equivalent to 4 watts), then I hope you don't have any 60 watt EMF radiation broadcasters indoors like, say, lightbulbs, nor 9-23 watt CFL radiation broadcasters. Otherwise it would be hypocritical...
Having said that, those two in the photo are cute so if they want to drop me a note...
1) You are hit with a hammer and the weight stays but varies until you are out of range.
2) You are hit with many hammers of various weights continually until you are out of range.
Which would cause the most physical damage in the least amount of time?
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