FCC faces historic legal challenge for failing to protect the public from wireless technology radiation
02/13/2020 / By Lance D Johnson
On February 2, 2020, a historic petition was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The petition calls on the court to find out why the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has not updated their 25-year-old guidelines on wireless technology radiation. The petition states that the FCC has “failed to promulgate rational, science-based radiofrequency emissions rules.” The FCC’s inaction, potentially deliberate, is portending a public health crisis.
The petition was filed on behalf of Children’s Health Defense, led by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and a legal team that includes telecommunications and administrative law attorney Scott McCollough. This legal battle seeks to protect the public from the non-thermal harms of wireless radiation and it also seeks to protect the public from the potential corruption between the FCC and the telecom industry, evidenced by the agency’s inept inaction.
FCC faces historic legal battle for failing to protect public health
As wireless technology rapidly expands, with 5G on the horizon and thousands of new cell towers and transmitters set to be installed across the country, the FCC has remained complacent in regulating it all.
The Children’s Health Defense will bring forward several key witnesses, including a mother whose son died from a brain tumor caused by cell tower exposure. Several parents and physicians are coming forth, bearing witness to the epidemic of sickness caused by rogue, unregulated radio-frequency emissions. Professor David Carpenter, a renowned scientist, will also produce evidence detailing the harms of radio-frequency emissions.
The FCC is the entity responsible for regulating wireless technology. The only guidelines ascertained by the FCC revolve around the thermal effects of wireless radiation. Since 1996, these guidelines have not been assessed nor have they been amended. The agency completely ignores the sound body of evidence on the harms caused by non-thermal radiation. Since 1996, radio-frequency-related sickness has skyrocketed. The bottom line of the telecom industry and the insatiable demand for faster internet speeds has taken precedence over the health of the people.
Because wireless radiation occurs silently and out of sight, the damage it causes can easily be ignored. However, in 2012, the General Accountability Office recommended that the FCC take action and reassess their guidelines. When the FCC opened a docket asking for public comment in 2013, hundreds of scientists and concerned individuals spoke out. Pulsed wave EMFs cause breaks in cellular DNA and are a source of oxidative stress. These EMFs disrupt voltage-gated calcium channels in human cells and elicit neuropsychiatric affect in human brains. Even as evidence mounts, nothing has been done to address these serious concerns. The FCC’s docket was closed in 2019 and no action has been taken.
Now the CHD is challenging the FCC for refusing to acknowledge the growing body of evidence of the harms of non-thermal wireless radiation. This battle is paramount, for the telecom industry is currently seeking to employ 5th Generation wireless technology across the U.S., rapidly expanding radio-frequency emissions that will come in rapid short wave bursts.
“This action represents the first time in 25 years that we finally can expose the FCC fecklessness in court, and give those who have been injured by the FCC’s disregard for human health a voice,” says Dafna Tachover, CHD’s Director of Stop 5G & Wireless Harms.
The FCC will have no choice but to reassess their guidelines and chart a new course – a path that puts the public health before the promises of economic boon.
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