Groups that oppose the spread of Wi-Fi and cellphone hardware are trying to stop bills before Congress that would block control of transmitters by cities.
Petitions.moveon.org is seeking signatures on a petition that will be sent to members of Congress opposing S.19, The Mobile Now Act, and S.1988, The SPEED Act. They are backed by Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile.
Americans for Responsible Technology says the wireless industry has been "secretly" introducing such legislation.
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Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown on Oct. 15 vetoed Senate Bill 649 that would have removed local control of cellphone tower creation. It would have created a state mandated system of cell towers every couple of hundred feet apart in California.
Opposing it were 300 cities, 47 counties and more than 100 community, planning, health, environment and justice organizations.
EMF Safety Network and Ecological Options Network said cell towers emit harmful radiation. The bill would have allowed unlimited refrigerator-size cell equipment on utility poles, streetlights, sidewalks, in parks, on schools and public buildings with no safety oversight.
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Sarah Aminoff, M.D., a pediatric neurologist, created the petition, and accompanied it with the following statement.
“I don’t want a cell tower installed on a street lamp outside my home! The FCC is streamlining the deployment of thousands of 4G small cell towers now on an unprecedented scale and paving the way for hundreds of thousands more 5G antennas in the future.T his could be happening in your neighborhood if you don’t act now and contact your member of Congress!
“These industry bills will allow powerful wireless transmitters to be installed (along with their noisy and large power equipment) to any utility pole or street lamp in any public right of way in America. Most utility poles or street lamps will become cell towers on every block leaving the public with no input or legal recourse, and vulnerable to privacy and security risks.
“The public has not agreed to cell towers in their front yards! Real estate values will significantly decline near base stations and antennas. All of us, as taxpayers, will be footing the bill while the telecom companies profit hugely.
Safety Not Proven
“Contrary to assurances by AT&T and Verizon, the ‘safety’ of wireless exposure has never been proven and there is growing science showing increased health risks, especially for children and pregnant women. I worry about the science showing health risks. Do you? Safety limits have not been updated since the 1990s and the FCC’s guidelines were derived from industry, and there is no monitoring or compliance testing of cell towers.
“A recent $25 million study by the U.S. National Toxicology Program of the National Institutes of Health found increased incidences of brain cancer, malignant tumors of the heart and DNA damage in laboratory animals from microwave wireless exposure levels the FCC considers ‘safe!’”
“Please sign this petition with your full legal name as it will be sent to Congressional leaders in Washington D.C, urging them to oppose S.19, and S.1988 and put a stop to the massive deployment of cell towers.”
Lo Isidro, senior director at Real Chemistry with more than a decade of strategic communications and PA experience, has joined Narrative Strategies.
Nelson Fernandez, former North American chair of APCO Worldwide and managing director of Burson-Marsteller, has joined Volunteers in Medicine Berkshires as director of communications and PA.
Lilit Bargar, who was most recently an EVP in the healthcare practice at Weber Shandwick, comes on board at GCI Health as EVP, corporate practice lead.
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