The May 30, 2023 City Council Open Forum meeting may have been covered by the Times Call in an article but where was any coverage about the content of the proposed resolution for a smart meter moratorium as read aloud at the meeting by at least five area residents, concerned with the upcoming citywide roll-out of these meters? Where were any details covered by the local press, in writing, describing the Master Electrician’s discovery of concerning electric and other code violations on at least one meter, presumably then, all of them, in the “smart meter test zone” in south Longmont, where approximately 580 meters are already installed on residences, retail outlets, and industrial buildings? Code violations that ostensibly lead to increased possibilities, even probabilities of smart meter fires. Where is the related coverage of smart meter fires that have occurred in other places, like Stockton, California in 2015, where a domino effect was seen when a power surge due to a downed power line caused by “an inebriated driver hitting a utility pole” caused many meters to malfunction, catch on fire or explode, and thousands to lose power as their smart meters “popped” like corn in a popper? You know, the sort of coverage that might just alert residents to what could be in store for them during this perceived era of climate change, where fires year round in Colorado have become the norm, while the Longmont Power Company winds its way into YOUR neighborhood next, installing its Landis-Gyr Revelo ready-made-for-IoT meters, seemingly oblivious to the possibility that they are slapping a bona-fide fire hazard on the side of your house?!! And were you to suffer a fire on account of that (not-so) smart meter, who is liable? Where is the local press in all this, and where is the discussion of what happens when a smart meter fire occurs, and someone with a hose thinks they’ll put it out, but instead, ends up being electrocuted (because, news flash, you have to cut the power before you can douse the fire….kind of makes me think of electric vehicle fires, only good luck cutting the power there, firefighters these days report allowing them to simply burn up, and it can take hours!).
What has become of real journalism? Or is it just that many in the press are disposed to dismiss the concerns around the potential harms of electromagnetic fields, in this case, RF, radiofrequency radiation in the form of microwaves, as tin-foil hat concerns?! Has no one in the mainstream media been paying attention to the major lawsuit, the Children’s Health Defense and Environmental Health Trust et al vs. FCC, with its adjudicated verdict on Friday the 13th of August, 2021 on behalf of plaintiffs calling for appropriate radio frequency radiation guideline updates? These and more questions “ought” to be on any journalist-worth-their-salt’s “pop quiz” as regards any productive coverage they might give to the smart meter issue. Wouldn’t it be worthwhile to cover the legitimate gripes of the citizenry as the meters are foisted upon us, including in and around Longmont, as not only the Longmont Power Company begins its rollout, but Xcel Energy is noticing its customers of impending smart meter installations in nearby areas serviced by them, and Loveland has them also in its pipelines in the foreseeable future? Instead, we, the reading public get remarks in the Times Call like this: “Agencies such as the Federal Communications Commission and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health ‘have determined that advanced metering equipment is safe for use in and near homes,’ according to the city’s website.” If real journalism still existed, wouldn’t that remaining worth-their-salt journalist be countering the above statement with “but what about those 11,000 pages of science, reports and testimonials, in twenty-seven volumes, submitted into evidence in the CHD v FCC case referenced above, that MUST count for…..something?!” (And what about the remarks in the proposed resolution read at that meeting, from the above-mentioned Master Electrician saying there are building code violations in the meters already installed in the south Longmont test zone, including OSHA and the NEC or, National Electric Code?) Instead……CRICKETS!!!
What has become of our press, of real journalism and reporting, of caring about the truth (and the people who need to hear it), and what has become of intellectual curiosity?!!! Where have all the flowers gone, long time passing?
You can watch the May 30, 2023 Longmont City Council Open Forum meeting for yourself, at this link.
For your best edification and elucidation of the smart meter issue in Longmont, including the reading of the proposed resolution for a smart meter moratorium, please view at minutes:
40:46
single speaker, various topics all to do with smart meters, evocative
47:26
five successive speakers read the proposed resolution for a moratorium with intro letter
1:19:46
single speaker in support of moratorium with ten questions posed to Council
2:35:10
speaker who causes a stir at Council
3:24:57
two speakers read Olle Johansson’s Aug. 2022 letter to Longmont City Council in advocacy of the Precautionary Principle, and the halting of smart meters in Longmont
3:42:28
final speaker of the evening, on smart meters and accountability, has “interesting” discourse with Councilwoman Martin
For further valuable and related public comments at this meeting, start at the very beginning with farmer Ben Sargent, speaking on the virtues of local food production, soil preservation and sustainable food systems, followed by Sustainability Advisory Board member, Mary Lin, who comments on “life-based solutions” of regenerative agriculture for sourcing local food, capturing carbon, while regaining a balanced and harmonious relationship with the earth.
