How to Begin

Citizens all across the Commonwealth are plucking up the courage to learn, educate and protect their communities — many start when they see a 4G/5G small cell antenna going up in their front yard, or when they get sick from a utility “smart” meter or macro cell tower.

The first instinct is to contact town hall and complain, but we’ve learned that most town administrators, and even town lawyers, do not know about wireless risks. Many think they have to roll over to the FCC and industry’s push to take away local control. They also appreciate the revenue stream from leasing public space for cell towers and antennas.

This is your opportunity to provide additional information.

Please don’t go it alone though. One voice can be easy for busy town leaders to dismiss, especially when they’ve never heard of wireless risks. But a group of well-informed collaborative citizens can move mountains. Reach out to speak with local families, sustainability organizations and other civic groups first. Then together speak with your town and follow up at every step. Nobody is going to fix this for you, you’ve got to move the process. It helps to have an RF meter in hand to demonstrate this invisible exposure.

This expert forum from Lenox, MA is a good video to share with municipal leaders so they can understand the actual law in regard to safe cell tower and small cell siting, instead of the disinformation and scare tactics commonly given to our towns by industry.

Some like to have the MA for Safe Technology information card printed up to keep on hand when opening the conversation wherever they go. It gives folks a physical reminder and a credible place to begin their investigation. Feel free to take these files to your local print shop for 4x6” cards: MA for Safe Tech Card Side A, MA for Safe Tech Card Side B.

Americans for Responsible Technology Leads Us There

Americans for Responsible Technology provides great guidelines to Start a Group if there’s not already one in your Massachusetts town. (Contact us to see if there are others in your town we can introduce you to.)

Their First Steps page guides you to protect yourself and your loved ones, and shows steps to protect your community.

Their Tool Kit has excellent hands-on materials for educating your neighbors, municipal leaders, legislators and local media.

They also list groups organizing across the country if others you know might like to Join a Group. If you start a group, ask them to list it so others can find you.

If public speaking is outside of your comfort zone, Massachusetts for Safe Technology Director Cece Doucette can be brought in to present with you.

Public Records Requests

Often we are left scratching our heads when we raise the wireless radiation issue with our towns and then nothing happens to protect our families and communities. We all have the right to submit a public records request to identify where the communication breakdown happened and to hold our public servants accountable for protecting the public. See the following two resources, and feel free to contact us if we can share insights.

• A Guide to the Massachusetts Public Records Law

• The Town Clerk is typically the person to submit a records request to. Click here to find your Massachusetts Town Clerk.

Professionalism Matters

A note on tone… when we open the safe technology conversation with others, we’d do well to use a calm, professional, fact-based approach (even if we are jumping out of our skins on the inside at the urgency of this issue!).

Most have not heard of wireless risks and depend greatly on their wireless devices. They may be skeptical to hear there are risks, and may look for an out from the conversation. Please don’t be that out. You only get one chance to make a first impression, so aim to create a welcoming, positive environment to work together toward safe technology solutions.

Stand in Their Shoes

One might anticipate that once we raise the issue, our public servants will fix it right away. We’ve learned it seldom works that way, unfortunately. Getting to safe technology can be a marathon rather than a sprint, and it’s up to us to keep this issue moving.

It’s important to understand the lane in which the person operates. How does change happen in their position? What information has the industry given them? What processes and regulations might they be up against even if they can see the need for safe technology? What deadlines do they have for integrating change? How can we support them?

The following links can help you provide facts that may be useful for different audiences:

·      EMF Points of Confusion vs. Fact

·       For Schools & Families

·       For Workplace Training

·       For Health Care Providers

·       For Engineers & Physicists

·       For Municipal Leaders

·       For Legislators

·       For Lawyers

Good luck, and don’t hesitate to Contact Us with questions and to share successes! Click the link below to join us, and we will send invitations for our monthly meetings where you can share what is happening in your town and learn from others.

Click here to join our efforts.

Please Support Our Work

Contributions are greatly appreciated to help continue our work.
We are honored to partner with our fiscal agent, the long-established
501(c)(3) non-profit Scientific Alliance for Education (SAFE).

Click here to donate via PayPal, and specify your contribution
is for MA for Safe Technology.

Or:

1. Send tax-deductible checks payable to SAFE.

2. Note MA for Safe Technology in the Memo line.

3. Send to: 561 Shunpike Road, Sheffield, MA 01257

Please contact MA4SafeTech@gmail.com with any questions —
and thank you so much for your support!