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DESCRIPTION:PRESS ADVISORY                                                              
        Contact: Joshua Hart\nJuly 21st, 2010                                
                                          
 joshuanoahhart[at]gmail[dot]com\n\nCITY OF SCOTTS VALLEY TO VOTE ON SMART 
 METER MORATORIUM TONIGHT\nConcerns about health impacts of new meters 
 growing rapidly in California \n\nThe Scotts Valley City Council will 
 tonight decide whether to join a growing list of California Cities and 
 Counties asking the Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to put a hold on 
 PG&E’s installation of the notoriously inaccurate and possibly health 
 damaging ‘smart’ meters.  Yesterday, Marin County became the latest 
 local government to ask that the CPUC put a hold on any further 
 installations pending accuracy tests and hearings on health issues.  Marin 
 County Supervisor Charles McGlashan admitted he has stopped using his cell 
 phone because of health impacts he had been suffering.  The supervisors 
 stated that it was entirely reasonable for the public to have questions 
 about health impacts answered before the meters are rolled out any 
 further.\n\nAt a Scotts Valley hearing on July 7th, it became clear that 
 several council members are not happy with PG&E, especially with the fact 
 that residents cannot opt out of the new meter program.   Scotts Valley 
 City Councilmember Stephany Aguilar told the hearing that she herself also 
 suffers health impacts from electromagnetic radiation: "Whenever I walk 
 into Best Buy, I get a headache," she said.\n\nAs Scotts Valley residents 
 have learned more about PG&E’s plans, there has been growing outrage 
 against the utility for forcing these meters onto California homes and 
 businesses.   PG&E claims this is “one of the largest technology rollouts 
 in history” yet there has been virtually no public consultation, and 
 barely even notification to residents.\n\nQuestions continue to be raised 
 about billing accuracy, fire safety, and exposure to electromagnetic 
 radiation.  “Just as worrying scientific evidence is beginning to emerge 
 about the health impacts of cell phones and wifi, do we really want to 
 install millions of new sources of this radiation throughout our 
 communities, with very little benefit to the consumer?” asks Joshua Hart, 
 Director of Scotts Valley Neighbors Against Smart Meters.\n\nThe new meters 
 will generate greater profits to PG&E shareholders but are ultimately being 
 paid for by the ratepayer. Furthermore, they will allow PG&E to layoff 
 hundreds of workers at a time of worsening recession and unemployment in 
 California.\n\nThe new meters use a similar technology to that used in cell 
 phones.  Scientific studies have shown a link between heavy cell phone use 
 and glioma, a form of brain tumor.[1]   This evidence recently led the City 
 of San Francisco to require that radiation levels of cell phones be listed 
 at the point of sale, a move that was ferociously opposed by the 
 telecommunications industry.  San Francisco has also formally requested a 
 moratorium on the installation of Smart Meters. Though the Federal 
 Communications Commission (FCC) claims that current limits are perfectly 
 safe, levels of electromagnetic radiation permitted in this country are 
 actually prohibited by law in many other countries like Switzerland, Italy, 
 and Russia.\n\nHeidi Bazzano, a resident of Granite Creek Rd. and a member 
 of the neighbors group, has chosen not to use cell phones or wifi after 
 reading up on cell phone health studies.  Now she is dismayed that PG&E is 
 forcing her to have the new meter installed. “PG&E’s treatment of their 
 customers and the public is outrageous. They didn’t ask us whether we 
 wanted these meters, and now we’re being told we can’t opt out.  That 
 is a violation of our health, our safety, and our property rights.” 
 \n\nThe City Council meets tonight at Scotts Valley City Hall at 6pm.   1 
 Civic Center Drive, Scotts Valley. A number of citizens are expected to 
 address the council.\n\n[1] 
 http://emfsafetynetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/INTERPHONEresultsupdate-October-20081.pdf\n 
 https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/07/21/18654435.php
SUMMARY:City Of Scotts Valley To Vote On Smart Meter Moratorium
LOCATION:Scotts Valley City Hall\n1 Civic Center Drive, Scotts Valley
URL:https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/07/21/18654435.php
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