“Global telecom satellite operators plan to launch and maintain over one million satellites, in low earth orbit, in the coming years”
A column by Frederick Sinclair
As the 2024 session of Congress is about to reconvene there are heavy lobby pressures attempting to get ‘industry benefitting’ laws through committees and onto the House and Senate floor for a vote. The telecommunications industry (telecom) has submitted numerous pieces of targeted legislation with common goals that seek to eliminate any obstacles standing in the way of a complete saturation of our nation with wireless based telecom microwave infrastructure. State and national activist groups have been hard at work making Congressman and Senators aware of the benefit to a telecom only agenda that is not in the public interest and creates a loss of home rule (local control) built into the proposals before them. The ability of local governing bodies to regulate, guide, and consider public input regarding placement of telecom towers, antenna arrays and small cell broadcasting equipment on homes, poles, buildings, school grounds etc. would be obliterated. Federal and state laws which require environmental impact review are being targeted for suspension, during frenzied telecom expansions, with no regard for public health, safety, cyber security or environmental impact.
Previous articles have examined the numerous dangers of exposing sensitive biological systems to unnatural electromagnetic and pulsed microwave frequencies. Numerous links to published and peer reviewed studies and reports support the conclusion that there is a need for revision (updating) of antiquated Federal Communications Commission (FCC) guidelines regulating exposure to microwave radiation. See https://ehtrust.org/science/top-experimental-epidemiological-studies/ The telecom industry gets approvals based on their equipment meeting (hiding behind) 25 year old microwave exposure levels which have shown to be outdated, and not appropriate for modern day quantity, types and combined levels of exposure. Three years ago, a high US Federal Court ordered the FCC to reconsider and update their antiquated exposure standards. To date, nothing has been done, other than, the telecom industry has ruthlessly accelerated the installation of every sort of wireless microwave delivery system imaginable. The rush is on to inundate the world with wireless before the lax regulation of public exposure is addressed. In the meantime, the FCC remains a captured agency, controlled by telecom with millions in campaign contributions persuading our elected officials to look the other way. But this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Global telecom satellite operators plan to launch and maintain over one million satellites, in low earth orbit, in the coming years. In 1986 the FCC determined that the authorization and licensing of satellites was excluded from the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) environmental impact review. No justification was offered despite evidence of significant environmental impact from individual and cumulative deployments. Fast forward to 2018 when there was just over 1,300 satellites active in orbit and the FCC earlier determination was still being used by telecom to declare their space based infrastructure ‘safe’, and avoid NEPA. FCC has received 70,000 applications to launch space based telecom satellites, in the US and 10,000 have already been granted. These satellite arrays have a life span of only five years per satellite and the US is on the path to launching 14,000 satellites per year in order to maintain growing licensed telecom networks. In 2022 the Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommended that the FCC justify its NEPA categorical exclusion from environmental review; FCC has not yet complied.
Launching satellites into space releases chemical and particulate emissions that affect our climate and the ionosphere . After 5 years, defunct satellites, routinely re-enter earths atmosphere, burn up and release atomized metals and other particulates that further interfere with the function of the ionosphere and ozone layer. These layers of the atmosphere protect the earth from harmful gamma rays and electromagnetic solar storms. The multiple telecom proposals, currently before Congress, will fast track the authorization to launch 70,000 US telecom satellites, without any review of environmental impact. They will also remove any local input into the placement of telecom infrastructure and further enable the ignoring of the need to update microwave frequency exposure levels.
We the people need to wake up and alert all travelling this road that they are GOING THE WRONG WAY ! The elimination of Home Rule is unconstitutional and the launching and routine replacement, over time, of an estimated 1 million telecom satellites runs the risk of inflicting irreparable damage to our climate and critical atmospheric protection layers. For a full fact sheet, outlining these issues and 24 links to supporting informational sources, go to EHTRUST.ORG/CONGRESS
