Perspective by Cindy Sage, Sage Associates
December, 2013
Excerpts:

How could one bad idea so completely galvanize such enormous and widespread public resistance?

It is really quite stunning how a single failed corporate/governmental strategy could backfire so rapidly and so completely.

It shows how little anyone really knew what these meters entailed in ‘unintended consequences’.  And how immediate the adverse effects would become visible.

Who knew a federal judge would strike down the government’s premier NSA spying program as an unconstitutional breach of the Fourth Amendment, and an indiscriminate and arbitrary invasion of privacy – a program which collects LESS information on Americans than so-called ‘smart meters’ can do?

Who knew that smart meters would fail to deliver energy savings?  Utility studies show less than 10% of HAN-enabled households pay any attention whatsoever to the conservation via smart meter technology.

Who knew that you could save more energy unplugging a few appliances?  Who knew the energy conservation you’ve already incorporated into daily living would be dismissed and ignored?  What is the incentive now to conserve more with this unwanted burden of costly and unnecessary technology that has so backfired?

Who knew that utilities could ration electricity by tiering of costs; so that it will cost everyone more unless you can do your housework at 1 am?

Who knew that smart meters are programmed so that they can remotely turn off your electricity from the utility downtown when demand is high?

Who knew that personal home security could be so easily threatened by thieves and home invasion robbers by tracking energy use with simple WI-FI devices from the street?

Who knew that the WHO IARC would classify smart meter RFR emissions as a Possible Human Carcinogen just a year into the first state rollout by California?  What did the federal government miss?  What did these corporations who took the federal stimulus money miss?  Who didn’t see this coming?  Who didn’t want to look?  What will be the consequence of this monumental error in judgment?

Who knew that the FCC would be forced by the federal Governmental Accountability Office (GAO), by inquisitive legislators, by scientific evidence pointing to serious health consequences from RFR emissions below FCC public safety limits, and by sheer force of public opinion in this country to re-evaluate the adequacy of its safety standards just three years later?

Who knew how much national good will could be lost by forcing people to accept a fatally flawed technological program that intrudes into the very sanctity of the family home, and risks their health, privacy, security, and well-being and that of their children?

Who knew that the levels of RFR are sufficiently high to cause damage to the growing fetus, the young child and children doing their homework or sleeping in their own beds?

Who knew that RFR levels within the family home could exceed RFR levels reported to cause unendurable side effects on health and well-being, and force families to abandon their homes?

The government has shot itself in the heart.

It has put young mothers and grandmothers under arrest for protecting their children and grandchildren.  It has created fear and loathing for ‘big brother governing’.

It has forced corporate resignations at the highest levels of utility management.

We know now, after some experience, that there is no energy savings, other than the phantom promises on corporate brochures.

Full article at: http://emfsafetynetwork.org/who-knew-the-wireless-smart-meter-meltdown/
———————————————————————————————————————
Cindy Sage is co-editor of the international BioInitative Report 2007 and 2012 www.bioinitiative.org