When Politicians Checkmate the Wisdom of Informed Citizens re: EMF, RF, 5G & ...Utility Meters??? Massachusetts Matters

The New Hampshire Report vs. Only 21 of 10,500 bills passed by MA Legislature, and the MAVEN Massachusetts Mess

During the pandemic, we saw how quickly information about health and safety can be collected and shared, to the level of a daily updated dashboard visible on a cellphone. and laypersons who were able to view reported illness rates by town, alongside attempts at contact tracking for exposures (airlines etc.) It’s not a question of the technology or the capability, it’s about political will.

What we have seen in the EMF/RF realm is that denial and suppression can instead rule, including when citizens in MA attempted to initiate a common-sense solution to an emerging health and safety issue that is being thrown under the rug. The rug prevailed.

Before we take the lid off of the trashcan of the MAVEN mess, it’s important to note that when the right people have information placed in front of them, the right things can happen, and they will keep happening. It happened in New Hampshire regarding 5G, also recently in Snowflake, Arizona regarding a tower that threatened a community created as a protective sanctuary for MCS/EHS residents, with ‘deliberations weighing the rights and wellbeing of all involved parties.’

And, Truth has gravity.

2020: New Hampshire Bombshell Report Documents Scientific Evidence That Questions the Safety of 5G

15 Recommendations Include Reducing Public Exposure to Wireless, Radiation Measurements, Reducing Radiation from Cell Phones and Protection of Trees and Bees

On November 1, 2020, the New Hampshire Commission to Study the Environmental and Health Effects of Evolving 5G Technology has released its final report to New Hampshire Governor Christopher T. Sununu, Speaker of the House Stephen J. Shurtleff, President of the Senate Donna Soucy summarizing its findings that safety assurances for 5G have “come into question because of the thousands of peer-reviewed studies documenting deleterious health effects associated with cellphone radiation exposure.” The majority of the New Hampshire Commission voted to support 15 recommendations to the New Hampshire Governor.

The report referred to the FCC as a “captured agency with undue industry influence,” citing the Harvard Press Book “Captured Agency: How the Federal Communications Commission is Dominated by the Industries it Presumably Regulates,” which compares the wireless industry to the tobacco industry.

The 5G Report recommends US federal agencies coordinate “to protect people, wildlife, and the environment from harmful levels of radiation” and states “until there is Federal action, New Hampshire should take the initiative to protect its environment. - Environmental Health Trust

Read the New Hampshire report here: 5G final report.pdf

New Hampshire had to create a state report due to massive dereliction of duty on the part of the federal government, and specifically, the Federal Communications Commission.

‘Smart Cities’: Who Decides What Data to Collect?

“Smart city” advocates around the country are extolling the benefits of real-time-data (widespread surveillance) to facilitate ‘data-driven decision making.’ At the same time, it is clear that whoever controls the data controls the narrative and the decision-making.

Smart meters have not been the only source of complaints about health damages, but so many people were injured, some so seriously, at the same time, in connection with the same environmental pollutant, that the issue reached a level of critical mass a decade ago in numerous states. Responsive policy making should have prevailed. Whether inadvertently or intentionally (NY, NM), data concerning injuries caused by utility meters and other environmental exposures is not being quantified, and/or being ignored, including at the federal level.

Federal Communications Commission

A court ruling in 2021 against the FCC noted that the agency failed to respond to reports of harm in a proceeding that it had opened from 2013-2019 about its exposure guidelines - and then ignored.

After ignoring the testimony submitted, the FCC ignored the court remand as well.

The commentary submitted to the court filled 11,000 pages, pictured here in a little red wagon viewed by Sheffield and Great Barrington voters who did not buy industry-fueled narratives about safety. (They were also over-ruled by the MA political power structure)

August 13, 2021 landmark ruling:

Transcript of Press Conference Following EHT Federal Court Victory Over FCC Wireless Radiation Safety Limits

The court held that the FCC failed to respond to “record evidence that exposure to RF radiation at levels below the Commission’s current limits may cause negative health effects unrelated to cancer.” Further, the agency demonstrated “a complete failure to respond to comments concerning environmental harm caused by RF radiation.” The court found the FCC ignored numerous organizations, scientists and medical doctors who called on them to update limits and the court found the FCC failed to address these issues:

impacts of long-term wireless exposure

impacts to children,

the testimony of people injured by wireless radiation,

impacts to wildlife and the environment

impacts to the developing brain and reproduction. Source: Environmental Health Trust

Testimony submitted to the FCC in the 2013-2019 proceeding had included ‘smart’ utility meter injuries and disability.

Utility Commissions and Smart Meter Safety: Dereliction of Duty

In the earlier article “Public Utility Commissions - Responsible for Safe and Reliable Electricity? Houston, we have a (no good, horrible, terrible, bad awful) problem, we provided links to recent activities in New York, Rhode Island, and New Mexico indicative of the fact that utility regulators responsible for the provision of safe and reliable electricity are not paying heed to meter-related health risks, injuries, or disability. (both powerline and wireless).

For example, NYSUMA New York Safe Utility Meter Association noted: “In 2016, the NYSPSC suddenly refused to post public comments “if they related to health”. This is a dereliction of the NYSPSC’s duty to protect and serve the best interests of New Yorkers. Presently, there is no way to know how many public comments the NYSPSC receives and simply discards.”

New Mexico regulators have instituted a fine if health or the environment is even mentioned by New Mexicans for Utility Safety (NMUS).

“On October 17, 2024, the NMPRC issued its Final Order on Public Service Company of New Mexico’s (PNM’s) latest application for smart meters. In its Order, it both approved the installation of 550,000 smart meters in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and other cities, and issued a threat to NMUS: henceforth the NMPRC will fine NMUS up to $100,000 for each document submitted by NMUS that mentions either health or environment.” - Source

Lack of response by state utility regulators is just one of the obstacles faced by ratepayers attempting to prevent the very real risks associated with an inadequately scrutinized technology choice.

Legislators across the country have ignored the even larger question of whether or not the smart grid is a reasonable undertaking, and actively participated in reducing scrutiny to the question of an opt out, (which itself is unrealistic in certain circumstances, including multi-family homes.)

Many states legislatures took no action on bills that would help protect ratepayers. and instead adopted a stance of benign neglect: “doing nothing and hoping that the problem will solve itself.” - Definition Source

The Massachusetts MAVEN Mess: Why the Massachusetts Legislature Can’t Do Its Job: Only 21 bills (of 10,500 filed) were Passed

Massachusetts residents had a brilliant idea for how to help forge a common sense, eloquent, and necessary course correction concerning EMF/RF injuries, (cell towers, school Wi-Fi, smart meters): Count reported injuries at the state level, through a system that is already in place for tracking trends in public health.

DID NOT PASS: The Proposed Bill: An Act recognizing EMS as a disease dangerous to the public health, requiring inclusion in MAVEN, establishing the Massachusetts EMS registry and requiring biennial reporting as part of population health trends.

MAVEN = (Massachusetts Virtual Epidemiologic Network) Disease Surveillance and Case Management System

By Representative Farley-Bouvier of Pittsfield, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2158) of Tricia Farley-Bouvier, Vanna Howard and Mary S. Keefe that the Department of Public Health add electromagnetic sensitivity (EMS) to the list of diseases dangerous to the public health. Public Health. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court (2023-2024) Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows: Chapter 111 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 243 the following section:

SECTION 244 EMS Disease Classification and Registry

(a) The department shall add Electromagnetic Sensitivity (EMS) to the list of diseases dangerous to the public health in 105 CMR 300.000 and 300.100 in order to facilitate reporting and surveillance requirements within the Disease Surveillance and Case Management System (MAVEN) implemented in 105 CMR 300.050 and identification of incidences that are part of a cluster or outbreak for purposes of 105 CMR 300.134.

(b) The department shall include EMS to the list of diseases possibly linked to environmental exposures in 105 CMR 300.192.

(c) The department shall collect and disseminate to health care providers (including but not limited to pediatricians) and the public recommended educational materials and diagnosis guidelines for identification of the symptoms associated with EMS. These materials shall include, but not be limited to the EUROPAEM EMF Guideline 2016 for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of EMF-related health problems and illnesses, Clinical Practice Guidelines in the Diagnosis and Management of Electromagnetic Field Hypersensitivity, Environmental Health Clinic, Women’s College Hospital (Toronto, CA) and Guideline of the Austrian Medical Association for the diagnosis and treatment of EMF related health problems and illnesses (EMF syndrome).

(d) (1) The department shall establish an EMS disease registry for the collection of information necessary to determine the incidence and prevalence of EMS in the commonwealth.

(2) There shall be within the department an EMS disease registry advisory committee to advise and assist in the development, implementation and progress of the EMS disease registry established in subsection (d)(1). The committee shall review and submit recommendations on: (i) what data shall be collected, including, but not limited to, demographic information and data by areas and regions of the commonwealth, with specific data from urban, low and median income communities and minority communities of the commonwealth; (ii) the means of collecting and disseminating such data; (iii) how to ensure privacy and confidentiality of such data; (iv) the purpose, design and functionality of the registry; and (v) the implementation of the registry. The committee shall recommend to the department any information deemed necessary and appropriate for the statistical identification and planning for treatment and education of health care providers and persons diagnosed with EMS.

(3) The committee shall consist of the commissioner, or a designee, and 10 members to be appointed by the commissioner as follows: 3 physicians, 1 of whom shall be a general neurologist, 1 of whom shall be an environmental health specialist and 1 of whom shall be a pediatrician; 1 health informaticist; 2 population health researchers familiar with registries; 2 EMS researchers; and 2 persons diagnosed with EMS. The committee shall meet at least bi-annually to assess registry progress and recommend changes.

(e) The commissioner shall include EMS as part of the data systems and biennial reports required by each population health trends required by chapter 111 section 237.

(f) Definition: for purposes of this section “Electromagnetic Sensitivity” (EMS), also known as EMF Syndrome, Electromagnetic Field Hypersensitivity or Nonionizing Radiation Sickness, means the recognized constellation of mainly neurological spectrum condition symptoms that have been associated with exposure to nonionizing electromagnetic energy. They include headaches, memory, cognitive and sleep problems, heart palpitations and/or increased heart rate, ringing in the ears, fatigue, skin rashes, tingling, nose bleeds, unremitting flu-like symptoms, dizziness, and burning sensations.

Why Can't the MA Legislature Do its Job?

In September of 2024, in an editorial for CommonWealth Beacon, Pittsfield MA resident Jeanne Kempthorne asked, Why can't the Legislature do its job?

“The Massachusetts Legislature is one of the least effective, least efficient, and least transparent legislatures in the nation. In 2023, only 21 bills (of 10,500 filed) were passed. In late July 2024, with the end-of-session deadline looming, we witnessed a mad dash to reach the finish line on a host of bills that have languished for the past year and a half. Many critically important bills did not get there. The budget is routinely late, often the last in the nation, holding up planning and procurement of essential goods and services throughout the Commonwealth. Rank-and-file legislators are virtually powerless and uninformed, dependent on lobbyists and leadership to tell them what to do and how to do it. They fundraise; they cut ribbons; they hobnob with their peers and betters. They do not legislate much.”

They do a fair amount of banking.

In Feb, of 2023, Boston 25 published “Massachusetts lawmakers’ base pay just tip of legislative salary iceberg” by Statehouse News Service. “Total pay for House Speaker Ronald Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka is set to sail above $200,000 in 2023, even though the top Democrats -- like their 198 colleagues -- are both in line for $73,654 in base pay. They’ll cross that threshold thanks to a newly updated leadership stipend of $109,163 awarded to the top lawmaker in each chamber.” [] “Lawmakers who travel less than 50 miles to the State House are now in line for expense stipends of $20,468.08 (up from $17,042.53), and the expenses allowance jumped to $27,290.77 for those who travel farther (up from $22,723.37), according to figures from Treasurer Deborah Goldberg’s office.’ [] States across the country have different systems in place for compensating their elected lawmakers, who work varying amounts of time over the course of the year. New York lawmakers rankled many last month by voting to increase their pay in 2023 from $110,000 to $142,000, which is now the highest in the country, according to data from the National Conference of State Legislatures. Massachusetts landed on the higher end with a base salary of $70,537 last year, though most legislators here earn tens of thousands of dollars more per year thanks to their stipends and many also supplement their pay with income from other jobs.”

The 2023-2024 Session was not the first time that the MA Legislature heard about the EMF/RF issue from the public

Cece Doucette of MA4SafeTechnology has maintained a summary of EMF/RF/wireless MA bills at her research repository Understanding EMFs.

The 2017-2018 EMF related bills are here: https://sites.google.com/site/understandingemfs/massachusetts-emf-bills-2017-2018 including a Resolve creating a special commission to examine the health impacts of electromagnetic fields. In the 2017-18 legislative session, Massachusetts initially introduced seven bills to address wireless radiation and public health, to protect children in schools, to protect children from hand-held devices, to label toxic products, to provide point of purchase notifications, to offer utility "smart" meter opt-out, to train the medical community and to provide health insurance for microwave illnesses.

The 2019-2020 bills are here: https://sites.google.com/site/understandingemfs/massachusetts-emf-bills-2019-20 Senators and State Representatives directly sponsored eight bills this session, most of which were introduced in prior sessions. Constituents have also written an additional set of bills that are presented by their legislators.

Th 2020-2022 bills are here: https://sites.google.com/site/understandingemfs/massachusetts-emf-bills-2021-22 Senators and State Representatives directly sponsored 11 bills this session, several of which advanced out of committee in prior sessions. [] we hope this session the leading bills will be enacted and that Massachusetts will quickly issue a legislative report as New Hampshire has done to reduce wireless radiation risks and recommend safe technology solutions. Last Tree Laws has also written additional bills, please see https://lasttreelaws.com/02/2021-legislation/.

Massachusetts EMF Bills 2023-24 are here: https://sites.google.com/site/understandingemfs/massachusetts-emf-bills-2023-24 Senators and State Representatives directly sponsored six bills this session to ensure technology safety, several of which advanced out of committee in prior sessions (click to see history). Now that safe technology bills have been in the legislature for ten years, we hope this session Massachusetts will take meaningful action to reduce wireless radiation harms.

2019: Investigate Worcester National Grid Smart Meter Pilot

In 2019, bills were introduced on both the House and the Senate sides by constituents to investigate the Worcester National Grid Smart Meter Pilot Program. The MA Department of Public Utilities failed to address evidence that had been provided by ratepayers about misreporting of cost savings, energy savings, participation, and satisfaction, for the program that was behind schedule and vastly over-budget. Rather than evidence-based decision-making guiding ratepayers’ investments, the DPU itself appeared to support “decision-based evidence making.”

(Read more here: Don’t Want a Smart Meter? Take It Up With Your State Lawmakers, Experts Say • Children's Health Defense)

Legislative Payrolls: New Hampshire vs. MA

On January 20, 2023 Mass Live reported: Payroll at the Massachusetts House of Representatives notched $44.28 million last year, out of more than $9 billion in total wages, overtime pay and buyouts across all state agencies and departments. The legislative chamber’s payroll included $38.84 million in base pay, $401,443 in buyouts and $5.04 million in other pay. Payroll at the Massachusetts Senate — a smaller legislative body with 40 elected officials compared to the House’s 160 members — was $22.13 million last year, state data show. The payroll breakdown includes $19.31 million in base pay, $235,647 in buyouts and $2.59 million in other pay.

https://www.masslive.com/data/2023/01/massachusetts-salary-database-see-lawmakers-staffers-who-earned-the-most-in-2022.html

NCSL National Conference of State Legislatures reports:

Legislative salaries in 2021 show a slight increase over previous years. The average base salary (excluding per-diem and expense payments) among the 41 states that pay their legislators an annual salary was $39,216, up from 2020's average of $38,370. California legislators remain on top of the compensation pile with a salary of $114,877, an increase of approximately 4% from their 2019 salaries. New Hampshire pays the lowest salary; their legislators have been paid $100 per year since 1889. New Mexican lawmakers are the only ones who do not receive a salary. They do, however, receive per diem, which means they earn more than their counterparts in New Hampshire.

So, working roughly with 2022 figures, without even using AI, the Legislature (Senate and House of Representatives) cost MA ratepayers $66.41 million dollars. For the 2-year session 2023-2024 that is about $122.83 million?

Let’s divide that by the 21 bills?

This doesn’t even address the dog and pony show of the simultaneously scheduled hearings, where an impossible number of bills are scheduled for testimony in the time allotted; where testifiers are given 2 -3 minutes to speak, while any legislator who walks in will interrupt and speak out of order for as long as they like; with some committee members not even in attendance; with testimony not posted and made accessible to the public; and with the work done in one session including expensive presentations (one copy for each committee member) THROWN OUT at the end of the legislative session, if they were even read.

New Hampshire decision makers’ (who are paid $100/year) 5G Report vs. the MA legislature’s professional politicians and a decade of inaction, including for an emergency pre-amble smart meter opt out bill?

S.2152 An Act relative to smart meters is sponsored by Senator Michael O. Moore and assigned to the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy. S.2152 requires a no-fee wireless meter opt-out and includes an emergency pre-amble, "Whereas, The deferred operation of this act would tend to defeat its purpose, which is to maintain public health, therefore it is hereby declared to be an emergency law, necessary for the immediate preservation of the public health." This bill was in its fifth session.

(A competing bill was also proposed that would eliminate the no-fee provision, favoring utilities over health-vulnerable ratepayers.)

Citizen Science in a Broken System

With wireless, it’s not just a question of the importance of citizen science. Citizens, primarily, (alongside very few independent researchers) are the ones carrying the load. The industry and its partners continue to fund propaganda efforts, like the ‘non-profit’ Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative (SECC) that “works to learn the wants and needs of energy consumers, encourage the sharing of best practices in consumer engagement among industry stakeholders, and educate the public about the benefits of smart energy.”

While conservation/sustainability narratives promote new-generation electric meters that enable time-of-use billing and demand charges,* the ‘demand’ for power for data centers is fueling a return to nuclear power. Not to mention, demand for water.

Meter-enabled surveillance was never about safety or sustainability.

POTSCRIPT: Audit the MA Legislature

MA voters approved the ballot question: Question 1: Should voters empower the auditor to look into the state Legislature? Approval of Question 1 would allow State Auditor Diana DiZoglio to audit the Massachusetts Legislature.

Diana DiZoglio was previously a state Rep (2012), and then a Senator, (2018) before running for State Auditor (2022). She did support the efforts of her constituents to pass utility meter choice legislation. (Her audit effort is facing political roadblocks.)

* Demand Charge: “a household's demand charge is based upon the maximum amount of power required over a single hour (or fifteen-minute period) in a given month. Because your demand charge is set based on your maximum hourly power requirement, there is less incentive to reduce your overall usage throughout the month but rather to adjust how much electricity you require at once. If you're on a demand charge electric rate, the only way to decrease your electric bill is to use less power all at once. In the past few years, utilities across the country— from Indiana to Massachusetts to Arizona—proposed mandatory or voluntary demand charges for residential customers. With the right resources and knowledge, it is definitely possible to reduce your monthly bill on a demand charge rate. But in many situations, including often for people with solar on their roofs, demand charges can lead to more expensive bills overall. -Source

The senior with a home health aide who comes once a week to vacuum, run the dishwasher, and do the laundry does not have the capacity to shift load like the household with a swimming pool pump, EV charger, and central air, but would be charged a higher electricity rate for the billing period. Third shift and multi-shift workers can also be unfairly penalized.

Learn More: Kent Chamberlin PhD, Wireless Health Effects: Cell Towers and 5G (22 minutes)

Kent Chamberlain, who was involved in the New Hampshire report, introduced by Jonathan Mirin of Hilltown Health.