(excerpt)
Suzanne Bohan, Contra Costa Times, April 29, 2011
...Assurances of the safety have offered no comfort to people protesting the expansion of SmartMeter technology into their living spaces. Last month, Marti Kheel, an environmental author and visiting scholar at UC Berkeley, rushed with another protester to confront Julius Genachowski, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.
The two unfurled a banner that demanded 'Stop SmartMeters' at Genachowski s April 14 appearance at the Commonwealth Club s Silicon Valley branch in Mountain View. Genachowski listened as they shouted their alarm over health effects...
SmartMeter resistance
PG&E has installed 8 million SmartMeters throughout Central and Northern California, and plans to attach them to all 10 million of their customers' homes by 2012. Nationwide, by 2015 some 100 million SmartMeters are predicted to replace analog meters, funded in part by billions of dollars in federal stimulus money to improve the efficiency of the nation s electrical grid.
The protest against SmartMeters has spread to the point that, at last count, eight counties and 31 cities in California have written official expressions of concern about SmartMeters, with questions about their safety, cost-effectiveness and privacy threats, or have passed largely symbolic moratoriums on their installation. These include Berkeley, Fairfax, Marin County, Monterey, Novato, Richmond, San Francisco, San Rafael, Santa Cruz County, Seaside and Watsonville. Law enforcement officers have declined to enforce the bans, as state law puts regulation of utilities in the hands of the California Public Utilities Commission.
Several other protesters among the surprised Mountain View audience stood to accuse wireless technologies of causing a range of health problems, such as cancer, fatigue, headaches, memory loss and other ailments.
'This is a technology that does not belong in residential neighborhoods,' Kheel said before Genachowski s talk, as she stood with about a dozen others on a street corner holding picket signs with statements about SmartMeters' health dangers. ...
Uncertainties
Still, in addition to the National Institutes of Health, other health and science organizations affirm the deficit of knowledge about long-term effects of continuous exposure to wireless signals.
'Cumulative or prolonged exposure to lower levels of radio frequency are not well understood,' the California Council on Science and Technology report said.
'Additional research and monitoring is needed' to understand how tiny but regular exposure to wireless radiation from SmartMeters and other wireless devices of comparable strength, such as Wi-Fi and baby monitors, might affect the human body. ...
A UC Berkeley researcher concurred with these organizations, saying he thinks the jury is out on biological effects of EMR at the levels found in wireless devices.
'Any kind of strong claim on either side is clearly premature, in my mind,' said Joel Moskowitz, director of the Center for Family and Community Health. But he also said that 'high-quality studies' on cellphone use, typically those funded by non-industry sources, 'found much closer association with risk.' ...
Suzanne Bohan covers science. Contact her at 510-262-2789. Follow her at Twitter.com/suzbohan.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/bay-area-news/ci_17959801
Informant: Joel M. Moskowitz, Ph.D.
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Ottawa taps Itron for 210000 smart water meters
SmartPlanet.com (blog)
By Andrew Nusca | April 29, 2011, 7:18 AM PDT
The City of Ottawa has chosen smart grid firm Itron to deploy smart water meters and related infrastructure in town. The fourth largest city in Canada, Ottawa is using the deployment as part of a greater ...
http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/smart-takes/ottawa-taps-itron-for-210000-smart-water-meters/15952
http://www.4-traders.com/ITRON-INC-NPV-9753/news/ITRON-INC-NPV-City-of-Ottawa-Selects-Itron-Smart-Metering-Solution-13613549/
Smart Meters Focus of Santa Barbara Forum
Noozhawk
By Alex Kacik, Noozhawk Staff Writer | @NoozhawkNews | Published on 04.28.2011
National experts led a discussion Thursday night on the dangers of smart meters at a 'Get Smart' town hall forum at Fess Parker s DoubleTree Resort. ...
http://www.noozhawk.com/article/042811_smart_meter_forum/
Parents' group won t oppose installation of Wi-Fi in B.C. schools
Vancouver Sun
It was a disappointing outcome for Victoria parent Peter Milne, who had urged the group to back a complete ban on Wi-Fi in schools, saying there is ample scientific evidence that the electromagnetic radiation is a health hazard for children. ...
http://www.vancouversun.com/Parents+group+oppose+installation+schools/4704792/story.html
Even more parents worried about Wi-fi in schools
A group of parents in BC have joined a frightening long list of organizations that are trying to get Wi-
http://www.techvibes.com/blog/even-more-parents-worried-about-wi-fi-in-schools-2011-04-29
Informant: Martin Weatherall
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