EHT’s winning case against the FCC EHT et al., v. FCC was featured in Politico, highlighting how the decision is being spun by the wireless industry as a win. The CTIA stated that the court ruling “expressly upholds the FCC’s determination that mobile phones and networks do not cause cancer.”
The fact is that this is a major win for EHT .The FCC was found to have failed to uphold the law that states a decision should be based on “reasoned decisionmaking”. However, the Wireless Industry (CTIA) is spinning the court decision and highlighting the issue of cancer as if the court decided that cell phones do not cause cancer. Which is not true.
What is true: In terms of the cell phone cancer issue, the court determined that the FCC had not been arbitrary and capricious on the specific issue of cancer. The lawsuit was about weather the FCCThe court found the FCC did offer an explanation for why 1996 limits could remain in place- because the FCC referenced a letter from the FDA as proof. (The FDA letter to the FCC can be found here.) However, the FDA letter was only about cancer, and of course research indicates many many other health effects, but the FDA did not address these other health effects. Furthermore EHT scientists and other international experts wrote the FDA and received no response as to their website statements and literature review. (Read more on that here.) The court did not make a determination on the science, nor did it decide if it thought cell phones caused or did not cause cancer. The Court did not foreclose the possibility that additional evidence might be submitted on remand to get the FCC to rethink the issue. The court ruling was about if the FCC was able to defend it’s decision, to show they actually considered the evidence placed on their record.
Fact: The August 13, 2021 Court ruling found the FCC failed to address impacts of long term wireless exposure, failed to address impacts to children, failed to address the testimony of people injured by wireless radiation, failed to address impacts to wildlife and the environment and failed to address impacts to the developing brain and reproduction.
The wireless industry is spinning the court decision just as they spin everything else to downplay the science. Read the article in Politico below.
Politico Morning Tech, Are We Reading The Same Court Ruling? — Wireless safety advocates and a wireless industry group both reacted positively to a D.C. circuit court ruling, August 16, 2021
“ARE WE READING THE SAME COURT RULING? — Wireless safety advocates and a wireless industry group both reacted positively — albeit for opposite reasons — to a D.C. circuit court ruling on Friday that faulted the FCC for its 2019 handling of safety guidelines related to radiofrequency radiation, commonly associated with the use of smartphones.”
“— What the court said: In response to a petition from health groups, the court ruled that the FCC “failed to provide a reasoned explanation for its determination that its guidelines adequately protect against the harmful effects of exposure to radiofrequency radiation unrelated to cancer.” Those effects, as defined by the plaintiffs, include “radiation sickness, [as well as] adverse effects on sleep, memory, learning, perception, motor abilities, prenatal and reproductive health, and children’s health.”’
“The court asked the FCC to “provide a reasoned explanation,” as well as address the effects of such radiation on children and the environment.”
“— What industry heard: CTIA, the trade group that represents the wireless communications industry, latched onto the court’s finding that the FCC had, in fact, adequately explained its conclusion that such radiation at levels under the FCC’s limit did not cause cancer. In a statement, the group said the decision “expressly upholds the FCC’s determination that mobile phones and networks do not cause cancer.””
“— What advocates heard: Advocacy group Environmental Health Trust, the lead petitioner, in a statement emphasized the court’s ruling that said the FCC was “arbitrary and capricious” when it came to its decision on those non-cancer health effects. Devra Davis, the group’s president, called for a congressional hearing into the FCC and said the U.S. should prioritize wired internet connections over wireless ones.”
