Thank you, JPUD Commissioners and staff, for acknowledging the expressed desire of more than 1,000 customer/owners who signed SMOG’S petition asking for an analog meter option.
Curiously, the Jan. 15 PUD press release turns to the notoriously corrupt FCC for direction on EMF exposure. In their own words, they “are not a health and safety organization.”
“As stated by the FCC, there are no federally developed safety standards. After years of a robust research effort by U.S. agencies, the U.S. EPA was tasked to develop proper safety standards and was developing two tiered guidelines on both thermal and biological effects. Then in 1996 it was defunded. Instead of proper safety limits, the U.S. government adopted ‘guidelines’ developed by industry based on decades old research.” (ehtrust.org) It’s all about the funding.
David Carpenter, director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the University of Albany, puts it this way: “...industry studies have weakened the findings of meta-analyses by diluting the ‘true association’ between ELF EMFs and cancer. As a result, the medical and public health communities have failed to advise people to reduce their EMF exposures.” (microwavenews.com)
The PUD might have pointed to the World Health Organization designation of these frequencies as “possibly carcinogenic.” Of course, that agency also bows low to pressure from its funders.
EMF biological effects are cumulative, and research has shown that small beings like birds and insects are inordinately impacted. It’s not just about us.
National security threat analyst, Cynthia Ayers, presented expert testimony before the Michigan House Committee on Energy Policy in 2017. She recommended the use of “an ‘all-hazards’ approach for grid mitigation. Retain analog systems to the extent possible.” (smartgridawareness.org)
Apply for your analog meter today. Monthly fee is waived for those who qualify for the low-income program.
Annette Huenke
Port Townsend
Editor's note: The Jefferson Public Utility District has released no press releases related to the health effects of electromagnetic frequencies. A Jan. 15 Leader news briefs quotes the FCC as saying there is no known link between low level electromagnetic frequencies and negative health effects.
