Environmental Groups are Calling For Caution With 5G 

Numerous environmental groups have written letters and appeals cautioning that the unfettered proliferation of 5G and new wireless networks will result in environmental impacts such as increased energy consumption, damage to the tree canopy, harm to pollinators and wildlife. 

In 2021, a landmark court decision was issued by the U.S. Appeals Court, DC Circuit (EHT et al v. the FCC) determining that the FCC had “completely failed” to address the “substantive evidence of potential environmental harms.” The evidence included scientific evidence on wireless radiation impacts to birds, bees, trees and plants.  

The Court ruling highlighted a letter by the U.S. Department of Interior which stated that, 

“There is a growing level of anecdotal evidence linking effects of non-thermal, non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation from communication towers on nesting and roosting wild birds and other wildlife…. “However, the electromagnetic radiation standards used by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) continue to be based on thermal heating, a criterion now nearly 30 years out of date and inapplicable today. “ and “third-party peer-reviewed studies need to be conducted in the U.S. to begin examining the effects from radiation on migratory birds and other trust species.”    

Environmental Groups on 5G and Wireless Network Proliferation

• Natural Resources Defense Council: Submitted an Amicus Brief in EHT et al v. the FCC documenting the critical regulatory gaps regarding environmental effects of wireless networks.  

• Environmental Working Group: Published research on the need for FCC limits to be hundreds of times stronger to protect children and sent letters to lawmakers in opposition to 5G streamlining laws.  
• Berkshire-Litchfield Environmental Council: Amicus Brief on the environmental effects.
• Greenpeace France: Released a position statement on 5G  as creating “digital pollution” that will increase carbon emissions, increase e-waste, strip the earth of natural resources and contribute to human tragedies on a global scale.  
• Ecologists in Action, a major environmental group in Spain issued a position on 5G calling for precaution.
• Green Party of California: Statement on 5G recommending precautions with 5G to reduce wireless exposures and promote safer alternative technologies to 5G. They also recommend the adoption of the recommendations of the New Hampshire State 5G Commission. 
• Sierra Club Washington DC: Testified that street trees could be at risk from the proliferation of 5G Small cells and equipment.  

• Sierra Club California: Opposed streamlining 5G “small cell” installations because they not only would create aesthetic blight, but also increase RF radiation levels.  
• Los Cerritos Wetlands Task Force of the Sierra Club Angeles: Opposed a 5G cell tower referencing studies that show that RF radiation could harm birds and insects. They called for an environmental impact report on possible health and biological impacts from 5G towers in the city.
• Sierra Club California and Nevada Desert Committee: 2022 Desert Report includes a chapter with information on 5G’s “immense infrastructure that will certainly be costly not only in financial terms but also in energy costs.” 
• Extinction Rebellion Belgium: Blocked a Wireless Company store due to the increased energy consumption of the large-scale deployment of the 5G “which is unacceptable while we are currently fighting against global warming.”
• Extinction Rebellion Orléans” France: Actions including posters and a protest.