For Immediate Release: June 3, 2019
Contact: Elaine Unger 414-423-6292
Wisconsinites Push Back Against 5G Small Cell Legislation Citing Risks to Human Health
Public Hearings on Assembly Bill 234 and Senate Bill 239 Bring Opposition
GREENDALE, WI – Wisconsinites traveled from different parts of the state last Wednesday to testify in opposition to 5G-enabled small cell legislation at the Assembly Committee on Jobs and the Economy and Senate Committee on Utilities and Housing public hearings. The two overlapping hearings gave the Wisconsinites the impression that this legislation is definitely on the fast track.
“This is the frame work that standardizes the permitting process, the fee structure—it’s so we can deploy this thing in a more efficient faster manner,” said Rep. Mike Kuglitsch, R-New Berlin.
And that has Wisconsinites very concerned.
5G (Fifth Generation) wireless technology requires the deployment of millions of new small cell antennas in the public rights-of-way spaced 2-10 homes apart. It uses radio-frequency wireless radiation to transmit large amounts of data, but it works best over short distances requiring very close proximity to users. 5G is an application of a technology already proven harmful to health and the environment.
In her testimony on AB 234, Elaine Unger of Greendale with Wisconsin For Safe Technology said, “There are zero studies proving 5G is safe. Zero. This bill strips us of our rights to protect our health, our privacy and our property. It also strips the rights of local government to protect us.”
Julie Lewandowski of Greendale, speaking strongly in opposition, read from Dr. Sharon Goldberg’s testimony at the Michigan House Energy Policy Committee Hearing in October stating, “Wireless radiation has biological effects. Period. This is no longer a subject for debate when you look at PubMed and the peer-reviewed literature.”
The Wisconsinites cited thousands of published, peer-reviewed studies which have linked exposure to wireless radiation with a long list of acute and chronic health problems including cancer, DNA damage, neurological and cognitive harm, infertility and miscarriage, migraines, anxiety, depression, Alzheimer’s, behavior problems and more.
Installing 5G antennas in
residential areas is not required for public safety. 5G is not a regulated public utility.
“Supporting legislation that forces 5G on communities across Wisconsin when the
telecom industry has admitted in testimony to Congress that 5G has not been
tested for safety is horribly foolish and does not serve the interests of the
State,” testified Catherine Kleiber
of Waterloo.
Kleiber was referring to U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal’s testimony at a Senate Commerce Hearing on February 6, 2019. During an exchange with wireless industry representatives, Blumenthal asked them whether they have supported research on the safety of 5G technology and potential links between radiofrequency and cancer, and the wireless industry representatives conceded they have not. He criticized the FCC and the FDA on inadequate answers on outstanding public health concerns.
Mark Kuether of Manitowoc explained to the Assembly Committee that the FCC guidelines for exposure are not safety standards and that the FCC has nobody qualified to set safety standards for human exposure because there are no medical people and no biologists employed by the FCC.
Many Wisconsinites who testified expressed concerns for the health of children, Wisconsin’s future workforce. “I urge you to put a pause on this bill. At the very least put a provision in this bill to keep 5G small cells and cell towers, for that matter, away from residential, day cares and schools. Our children are the most vulnerable and will be affected the greatest,” testified Jan Young of Muskego.
Wisconsin 2013 Act 20 already preempts local control further than the 1996 Telecommunications Act, which has prohibited communities from protecting their residents from the biological effects of wireless radiation for the last 23 years, preventing just such precautionary action. Kleiber noted that these laws should be repealed or overturned to protect public health and the environment.
Sarah Hillman of Delavan said, “I think that when people’s health and lives are at stake we need to err on the side of caution before we allow this huge infrastructure to come in. It’s a lot easier to stop it now rather than to undo what’s already been done.”
Wisconsin For Safe Technology supports safe technology like wired lines all the way to the premises and encourages Wisconsin health professionals to attend the Electromagnetic Fields Conference – Diagnosis and Treatment – The Impact of Today’s Wireless Technology – September 6-8, 2019. Learn more at www.EMFConference.com. Expert presenters include: Devra Davis, PhD, Magda Havas, PhD, Erica Mallery-Blythe MD, Olle Johansson PhD, Sharon Goldberg MD, Kalpana Patel MD and more.
Visit www.WisconsinSafeTech.com for wireless safety tips and to learn more about 5G.
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Assembly Committee on Jobs and the Economy Public Hearing Video from May
29, 2019: https://wiseye.org/player/?clientID=2789595964&eventID=2019051071
Resources on 5G:
Video: Dr. Sharon Goldberg, Internal Medicine Physician Testimony in Opposition to Michigan Small Cells.
Video: Dr. Martin Pall, Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry and Basic Medical Sciences
Video: Dr. Devra Davis, Ph.D. MPH, American College of Epidemiology, President Environmental Health Trust
Website: Environmental Health Trust
Website: Physicians For Safe Technology
#Stop5G #PracticeSafeTech
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