PURPOSE AND STORY BEHIND THE SMART METER TOWN HALL PROJECT THE SMART METER TOWN HALL WAS CREATED FOR THE PURPOSE OF PROVIDING A MORE BALANCED EDUCATION TO THE CITIZENRY OF LONGMONT ON THE TOPIC OF SMART METERS. IN SPEAKING TO MANY RESIDENTS, WE FOUND THAT PEOPLE AS A GENERALIZATION DON'T KNOW WHAT A SMART METER IS, ITS TOUTED BENEFITS, NOR ITS NUMEROUS QUALITIES THAT SHOULD CAUSE A THINKING PUBLIC TO THINK LONG AND HARD BEFORE EMBRACING AND IMPLEMENTING SUCH A SCHEME. PEOPLE WHO PAY ATTENTION TO BOTH CITY COUNCIL, AND INFORMATION THAT COMES IN THE CITYLINE NEWSLETTER (THAT COMES WITH YOUR ELECTRICITY BILL IF YOU ARE A LONGMONT POWER COMPANY/LPC CUSTOMER) WILL KNOW THAT THE IDEA OF BRINGING SMART METERS TO LONGMONT WAS, FIRST (IN JAN. OF 2020), BEING STUDIED, AND SECOND (AND MORE RECENTLY), A DONE DEAL - THE SMART METERS BEING PERCEIVED BY THE CITY AS THE CORNERSTONE FOR LONGMONT'S 2030 GOAL OF ACHIEVING 100% RENEWABLE ENERGY. AND THUS, THE BELIEF BECAME THE METERS WERE THE "SAVIOR" OF LONGMONT'S CLIMATE CRISIS, AND PRIORITY #1 ON ITS PATH TO RENEWABLE ENERGY. DON'T BELIEVE ME? LOOK IT ALL UP ON THE CITY'S WEBSITE, AND ALSO LOOK UP THE LONGMONT CLIMATE ACTION TASK FORCE. FOR THE PAST TWO YEARS, THE TOPIC OF THE METERS HAS BEEN A RECURRING ONE AT LONGMONT CITY COUNCIL, BOTH IN "STUDYING" THE SUBJECT AS WELL AS MAKING PLANS FOR ITS REALITY. THIS, IN SPITE OF VARIOUS EDUCATED AND CREDENTIALED PEOPLE ADVOCATING FOR SAFE (AND "SMARTER") TECHNOLOGY SPEAKING UP, REPEATEDLY, AT CITY COUNCIL AND ELSEWHERE, ABOUT THE "DARK SIDE," SO TO SPEAK, OF THIS TECHNOLOGY, AND ON WHY THEY ARE NOT SMART (NOR SAFE) FOR LONGMONT. YOU WILL NOT, HOWEVER, FIND ANYTHING OF THAT NATURE IN THE PUBLISHED INFORMATION ON THE CITY'S SITE, ONLY ALL OF THE BENEFITS TO BE HAD BY THESE METERS, WITH NONE OF THE DETRIMENTS. SO GOES MARKETING!!! IN OCT. 2020, LONGMONT DID, INDEED, HAVE A STUDY SESSION AT CITY COUNCIL ON THE METERS, WITH THREE SO CALLED EXPERTS. UNFORTUNATELY, ONLY ONE OF THOSE EXPERTS WAS A TRUE SUBJECT EXPERT, DR. TIMOTHY SCHOECHLE, PhD OF BOULDER, AND HE IS OUR SECOND FEATURED SPEAKER ON OUR MARCH '22 VIRTUAL SMART METER TOWN HALL. THE OTHER TWO INDIVIDUALS PRESENTING THAT EVENING EITHER HAD A TIE TO THE SMART METER (aka AMI / ADVANCED METERING INFRASTRUCTURE) INDUSTRY (THIS 'EXPERT' WAS ULTIMATELY HIRED BY THE CITY AS AN ADVISOR ON THE PROJECT!) OR WAS NOT QUALIFIED, AS AN AIR QUALITY ENGINEER FOR THE BOULDER COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT TO SPEAK ON THE CHOSEN SUBJECT, IN THIS CASE, THE HARMFUL EFFECTS (OR NOT!) OF EMF / ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION. AND THUS, THIS PARTICULAR SPEAKER, WHO ACKNOWLEDGED HE WASN'T REALLY QUALIFIED TO SPEAK ON THIS SUBJECT, HAD NO OPTION BUT TO GIVE THE CITY A PASS ON WHETHER THESE METERS CARRIED ANY SAFETY HAZARDS BY WAY OF (MICROWAVE) RADIO FREQUENCY EMISSIONS, QUOTING BOTH THE FCC AND AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY'S STATED POSITIONS ON THE SUBJECT. SUBSEQUENTLY, AND AS CITY COUNCIL HAD BEEN WARNED BY VARIOUS PUBLIC COMMENTERS, THE AUG. 2021 RULING AGAINST THE FCC, IN THE SECOND HIGHEST COURT IN THE U.S., WOULD PROVE HIM, AND ANYONE ELSE WHO TAKES THE FCC'S RF GUIDELINES SERIOUSLY (AT THIS POINT IN TIME) PATENTLY WRONG IN HIS STATED OPINION!!! AND THIS IS WHY, DEAR READER, WE DECIDED TO HAVE A "REAL" STUDY SESSION, EVEN THIS LONG AFTER THE INITIAL EVENT!! THE ABOVE REPLAY OF THE VIRTUAL SMART METER TOWN HALL IS THE "STUDY SESSION YOU WISHED YOU'D HAD, BUT DIDN'T" NOW BEING BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE PEOPLE! ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ |
Featured Speakers:
Cece Doucette, MTPW, BA, Director, Massachusetts for Safe Technology. An informative overview on dangers of wireless EMFs (electromagnetic fields) and how this relates to smart meters. Timothy Schoechle, PhD, Senior Research Fellow at the National Institute for Science, Law & Public Policy, Author: Re-Inventing Wires: The Future of Landlines and Networks. He explains why rolling out smart meters in Longmont may be a waste of residents’ money and much, much more. Susan Foster, MSW, Medical Writer, Honorary Firefighter with the San Diego Fire Dept. A recent landmark case was won against FCC; how the FCC was derelict in its duties and what this may mean to Longmont; plus, an overview of smart meter fires. Prof. Olle Johansson, PhD, Retired, Researcher, Experimental Dermatology Unit, Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden; International Expert on EMF/EMR and living things. How adding more wireless radiation (smart meters, 5G) to our local environs contributes to systemic eco-collapse. SMART METER POP QUIZ
DO YOU KNOW:
OKAY, DID YOU PASS THE SMART METER POP QUIZ? IF NOT, YOU NEED TO CLICK AGAIN ON EACH OF THE ABOVE LIVE LINKS AND DO A LITTLE MORE STUDYING! ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ |