More WIRED Broadband, Less Dangerous WIRELESS

Telecom’s Antennas Will Trap Us in a Digital Gulag

Viewing with avarice Telecom money for advertising, reelection and funding, reporters, politicians, and academics – respectively – are supporting WIRELESS bills to bridge a so-called “digital divide” between those with and without “broadband internet” connectivity. These bills ignore a few inconvenient facts:

* Safety: The FCC’s claim of adequacy of its limits on Radio Frequency Microwave (RF/MW) radiation exposure was remanded in 2021 by the DC Federal Appeals Court for “capriciously” ignoring 11,000 pages of scientific evidence of biological harm to humans and the environment;1

* Mandates without liability: Federal legislation and rulemaking increasingly mandate Americans to be exposed to dangerous technology with zero safety testing, while exempting the industry from liability for any harm caused by its products;2

* Broken Promises: Phone customers over the last decade paid surcharges for promised WIRED internet that never was connected and for which the Irregulators Lawsuit greenlighted States to audit;3 and

* Local Solutions: Many States erected barriers to local government wired connections that could bridge this divide.4

Preemption Destroys Local Control of Property

To respond to consumer complaints of poor Internet connectivity, the House Energy and Commerce Committee has passed bills (HR 3557/4141) to preempt local governments from setting back antennas safely far from bedrooms, classrooms, offices, parks, and farms. Another bill, House-passed HR 4510 (as well as Senate Commerce-pending S. 4207) would make available government spectrum to private industry, who would exploit a loophole called “Section 6409,” allowing the loading of additional antennas onto already-approved towers, with little ability of local governments to oppose.5 Worse, the Administration has placed this same preemption in a rule for Net Neutrality. The National Health Federation strongly supports HR 8082 (Smith, NJ), strengthening local government discretion to protect property owners – 2/3rds of whom prefer wired connections and 90% of whom don’t want ugly, dangerous towers hurting their property values by 20%.6

Ruining National Parks

Not satisfied with ignoring informed consent while forcing antennas near America’s bedrooms and schools, Telecom has lied to Congress about a need for wireless antennas in our national parks and farms. In House-passed HR 6492, sections 141-143 would plant antennas throughout our parks – the same antennas blamed for causing some of the worst fires in America’s history.7 This bill would render parks un-hospitable for the one-third of Americans sensitive to Radio Frequency Microwave (RF/MW) radiation.8 And since modern iPhones allow any distressed hiker to at least text 911, the emergency access justification for the bill is not convincing.

Damaging Food

For farms, the House has passed HR 1339 and the Senate’s Farm bill contains Section 6502 – both of which would flood our farms with antennas, which a court blamed for a 20% reduction in cows and their milk yield, expose our food supply to hacking despite a former FCC Chairman’s criticism of 5G as inherently insecure, bankrupt farms from wireless’ intrinsic obsolescence (thereby enabling global interests to purchase even more American land) and is unneeded as well.9 This is because even without these bills, farmers now can use GPS, a laptop, and a private wireless network to remotely move livestock, or even add a drone to analyze crop conditions.

Broadband that is Safe, not just Effective

In addition to passing Mr. Smith’s bill to respect local antenna location discretion, we urge both a reversal of the 1996 defunding of the Environmental Protection Agency study of RF/MW long-term harm, and more congressional pressure on the FCC to finally comply with the Federal Appeals Court order to base FCC exposure limits on the evidence it has been ignoring.10 Americans want Internet access that not only is reliable but also safe. In light of the “inconvenient facts” listed above, Congress should not preempt State wired solutions, nor should it forgive industry’s broken promise to use our phone bill surcharges to WIRE every home. Congress should not deny informed consent by forcing antenna emplacements outside our bedrooms, classrooms, offices, and parks that will spy on, fry, and coerce compliance, trapping Americans in an Orwellian Self-Monitoring Active Reporting Technology (SMART) city.11

Links:
1. https://ehtrust.org/in-historic-decision-federal-court-finds-fcc-failed-to-explain-why-it-ignored-scientific-evidence-showing-harm-from-wireless-radiation/?iframe=1
2. https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/22/22-698/263539/20230414130203673_22-698%20%20Amicus%20Brief.pdf
3. http://irregulators.org/irregulators-big-win-we-freed-the-states-from-the-fcc/?iframe=1
4. https://communitynets.org/content/community-network-map
5. https://thenationalcall.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/US-Senate-Commerce-Committe; e-Comments-by-NC4ST-3-27-24-FINAL-UPDATED.pdf
6. https://ehtrust.org/u-s-congressman-introduces-legislation-to-rein-in-5g-steamrolling-and-to-empower-local-residents-concerned-by-the-proliferation-of-5g-towers/; https://www.fibre-systems.com/article/fiber-connect-2023-two-thirds-us-consumers-prefer-fibre?iframe=1l; https://www.emfanalysis.com/property-values-declining-cell-towers/?iframe=1&iframe=1&iframe=1
7. https://thenationalcall.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/fires_telecom-fed-wireless-bills_R13r.pdf?iframe=1
8. https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/chd-fcc-digital-discrimination-electromagnetic-sensitivity-disabled/
9. https://www.agriculture.senate.gov/newsroom/dem/press/release/chairwoman-stabenow-unveils-the-rural-prosperity-and-food-security-act; https://www.connexionfrance.com/news/french-court-orders-4g-antenna-switch-off-over-cow-health-concerns/181324; https://www.cyber.forum.yale.edu/blog/2021/7/20/cybersecurity-risk-in-5g?iframe=1; https://www.benton.org/blog/how-fixed-wireless-technologies-compare-fiber?iframe=1
10. https://ehtrust.org/the-epa-website-changes-emf-safety-issues-removed/?iframe=1&iframe=1; https://ehtrust.org/in-historic-decision-federal-court-finds-fcc-failed-to-explain-why-it-ignored-scientific-evidence-showing-harm-from-wireless-radiation/?iframe=1
11. https://charlesdfrohman.substack.com/p/3-minute-warning-the-wireless-mesh; https://corbettreport.com/the-5g-dragnet/