Berkeley CA, or Alameda Cty. please sign petition asap

Pacific Gas and Electric is installing "Smart Meters" (EMF in constant pulsing -- people have been having health problems after installation but are being ignored) on all homes and businesses, and there is a prayer of an opportunity to stop them if enough people speak up -- This is very short notice, but tomorrow night, June 1 2010, the Berkeley City Council will be deciding whether or not to take a stand on this. [I hope the links here will come through ok.]

An online petition is at http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Smart 
You can sign it if you live in Alameda County -- please sign even after theJune 1 date.

If you get this in time and are in Berkeley, please send an email and/or come to the City Council meeting and hold a sign saying ""SMART METERS": VOTENO, NOW!" and/or speak during the public comment period(you get one minute). You have to fill out a little form to sign up to speak, and put the agenda number on it -- it is item #38. Meeting starts at 7 pm.

Address and more details in the email pasted below, plus you can see more details re the meters and more sample letters (including mine) at
http://docs.google.com/View?id=dgq48d39_8db4rhsx7


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from Phoebe Anne Sorgen <[hidden email]>  
date Sun, May 30, 2010 at 6:46 PM
subject SmartMeter Tu 7pm+corrected emails! June 1 agenda item 38
   
City email addresses have changed! They need to hear from us asap re the PGE "smart" meters that are being installed on our homes without our consent.

Please highlight the block of corrected email addresses below, copy and paste them (or drag) into the "To" field of a new email, then paraphrase or rewrite this sample letter to the Mayor and City Council of Berkeley, personalizing it to emphasize the points you care about asap. Choose an appropriate "Subject:"

Councilmember Kriss Worthington met with concerned Berkeleyans and put it on the agenda, but Gordon Wozniak objected to a moratorium request, which iswhy the matter might be delayed until Sept unless we lobby them.  

Also, please speak 1 minute at the 7pm meeting Tues and/or hold up a sign. MLK between Allston/Center. Thanks!


-----------------------Sample letter:

[hidden email], [hidden email], [hidden email], [hidden email], [hidden email], [hidden email], [hidden email], [hidden email], [hidden email], [hidden email]


Honorable members of the Berkeley City Council and Mayor Tom Bates:


Regarding PGE "smart" meters, June 1 agenda item 38, I am disappointed thatthis matter may be referred to the Berkeley Energy Commission and thus delayed for months. Please do not delay but vote on June 1 to ask the CPUC toimpose an immediate moratorium on Smart Meters. Also, please request a permanent opt-out option for those of us who do not want them installed on our homes.

I oppose the installation of wireless Smart Meters on my home because therehave been billing overcharges as well as security and interference problems. There have been associated fires and reports of adverse health impacts. PGE admits to several of these problems. I prefer for the meter readers to be able to keep their jobs instead of being replaced by wireless meters that are read remotely. PGE did not need to go wireless but could have, instead, more easily and more cheaply used the existing landline telephone infrastructure for timed usage meters, and they would not have been hackable, but PGE would still have had to pay meter readers.  

Even if you are not personally concerned, you were elected to represent theinterests of residents, many of whom are quite concerned. In a democracy,a monopoly corporation should not be able to install these devices on our homes without our consent and without addressing our concerns fully in public hearings.  


Hundreds of signatures on paper petitions have been submitted to you.
Your constituents continue signing paper and online petitions requesting a Smart Meter moratorium:
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Smart


Sincerely,




Additional info:

Stanford PhD students' experiment re SmartMeters
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/7_on_your_side&id=7424533


Pacific Gas & Electric has "paused" installing smart meters in the Bakersfield area because of complaints...his average bill has jumped from about $200 a month to about $500 to $600 a month since he got a smart meter
http://seekingalpha.com/article/172729-pg-e-sued-over-smart-meters-slows-down-bakersfield-deployment


TURN FACT SHEET - SMART METERS: A DUMB IDEA
http://www.turn.org/article.php?id=875


Ca Senator Florez: "What I've discovered is a tale of greed and gouging, a so-called SmartMeter program riddled with problems and public watchdogs so cozy with PG&E that they've surrendered all teeth."
http://fresnobeehive.com/opinion/2009/10/sen_dean_florez_is_going_after.html#ixzz0ilhAg54L



Are Smart Meters Smart?
http://emfsafetynetwork.org/


“The scientific community and most health officials agree that moreresearch is needed to provide a definitive answer to the effects of extremely low-frequency electromagnetic and radio-frequency radiation on our health and recommend prudent avoidance of equipment which generates non-ionizing radiation...”  
http://www.sfexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/under-the-dome/Supervisors-urging-feds-to-crack-down-on-wireless-risks-87672377.html