James F. Tracy: Wireless Technology and the Toxification of America

As a multitude of hazardous technologies are deployed in homes, schools and workplaces, government officials and industry representatives continue to insist on their safety despite growing evidence to the contrary. A major health crisis looms, that is only hastened through the extensive deployment of smart grid technology. In October 2009, at a Florida Power and Lights (FPL) solar energy station President Barack Obama announced that $3.4 billion of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act would be devoted to the country's smart energy grid transition. Matching funds from the energy industry brought the total national Smart Grid investment to $8 billion. FPL was given $200 million of federal money to install 2.5 million smart meters on homes and businesses throughout the state. By now, many residents in the United States and Canada have the smart meters installed on their dwellings. Each of these meters is equipped with an electronic cellular transmitter that uses powerful bursts of electromagnetic radio-frequency (RF) radiation to communicate with nearby meters that together form an interlocking network transferring detailed information on residents electrical usage back to the utility every few minutes or less. Such information can easily be used to determine individual patterns of behavior, based on power consumption. The smart grid technology is being sold to the public as a way to empower individual energy consumers by allowing them to access information on their energy usage so that they may eventually save money by programming smart (ie, wireless enabled) home appliances that will coordinate their operability with the smart meter to run when electrical rates are lowest.