By B.N. Frank

On April 11, 2018, The Ohio Senate Committee of Public Utilities passed House Bill 478.

This new bill still allows small cell towers to be installed pretty much everywhere including in front of homes, public rights-of-ways, historic districts, etc.

According to the The Alliance Review’s article on this bill:

More than 50 percent of Ohio’s adults live in wireless-only households, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Does the CDC know what percentage of Ohio adults and children DO NOT live in wireless-only homes?  No “safe” level of cell phone or wireless (WiFi) radiation has yet to be scientifically determined for children or pregnant women.  Does the CDC know that either?

This bill goes against The Precautionary Principle.

Let’s get back to the statement about the “wireless only” households.  If we are to follow elected officials line-of-thinking, Ohioans of any age who do NOT live in “wireless only” households shouldn’t be forced to accept small cell towers installed in front of or near their homes. 

There are health, privacy, and security risks associated with this new technology.   It is being fought in other states as well as at the federal level.  This has been reported by many sources including Dr. Oz who had a segment about it on his show in February.

So let’s get real.  This is about how much money Ohio elected officials have taken from the telecom industry.

According to an industry article,

Among the 47% of U.S. broadband households not owning or intending to by any smart home devices, the top reasons are Among the 47% of U.S. broadband households not owning or intending to by any smart home devices, the top reasons are not seeing any benefit to lifestyle (51%), smart home devices are too expensive (41%) and have privacy and security concerns about having smart devices in the home (23%), according to Parks Associates.

In 2016, CBS News reported “More Americans worried about data privacy than income.”

Governor John Kasich still has to sign this bill.  Despite all the controversy with the first small cell tower bill in 2016, he signed it anyway.  He is expected to sign this one too.

Money isn’t the root of all evil.  It’s the love of money that is the root of all evil.

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