This is a must-watch and must-share video. I’ve been working on it intensively for the past week, inspired by our community’s political performance at the Nevada City City Council meeting on December 11th, because time is of the essence. This is your CALL TO ACTION -- with a hard deadline of December 31st for the first of four critical steps.
SOUNDING THE HORN: THE CONDUCTOR’S BRIEF: A fast, clear summary of the key takeaways to keep you informed on the go:
The FCC, Congress, and the White House are moving in parallel -- using different tools, but the same extraction model.
The result: local governments are being stripped of authority over what gets built in their own communities.
This is happening during the holidays by design, when public attention is lowest.
The FCC is pushing new rules (Docket 25-276) without complying with a 2021 federal court order requiring updated safety review. PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD CLOSES DEC. 31ST. THIS is your CALL TO ACTION.
Congress is advancing mirroring bills, including H.R. 2289, while Trump’s AI executive orders further entrench this approach.
Together, this creates a national model for bypassing local oversight for ALL INDUSTRIES.
Go to: 704NoMore.org/TakeAction. DIRECT LINK TO FCC FILING HERE
Complete all 4 action steps
Submit your FCC comment before December 31st. (I have added a FCC template at the bottom of the page)
Share widely
Once these rules are locked in, the decisions are no longer yours.
As Americans move through the holiday season-- traveling, gathering with family, trying to hold onto moments of calm-- something significant is unfolding in Washington, largely out of public view.
If you’re one of my subscribers, you know exactly what I’m talking about: the current federal coup d’état against local government.
This is not accidental timing.
In the final weeks of December, when attention is scattered and civic engagement is at its lowest, federal agencies and lawmakers are advancing a coordinated set of actions that would fundamentally reshape who controls what gets built in our communities.
You have been hearing me shout this from the rooftops for more than a month now because I have never seen anything like this.
At stake is nothing less than local self-governance.
WHAT’S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW
Three parallel actions are moving forward at once:
The Federal Communications Commission is advancing proposed rule changes (FCC Docket 25-276) that would further strip cities and towns of their ability to decide where cell towers and antennas are placed-- eliminating public notice, eradicating opportunities for community input, and weakening protections for neighborhoods, historic areas, and sensitive sites.
Congress has introduced a slate of wireless-expansion bills-- H.R. 2289, H.R. 1343, H.R. 1588, H.R. 1665, H.R. 1681, H.R. 1731, and H.R. 6046-- that mirror this approach legislatively, fast-tracking deployment by overriding state and local land-use authority.
Meanwhile, the White House has asserted greater federal supremacy over artificial intelligence policy, directing agencies to challenge state laws and replace local standards with a single national framework—signaling a broader shift away from local decision-making across sectors.
Different branches.
Same parasitic model.
Local governments are increasingly treated not as local institutions, but as obstacles to be removed.
WHY THIS MATTERS
For nearly three decades, federal law has prevented local governments from considering biological and environmental harms associated with wireless infrastructure. That restriction-- Section 704 of the 1996 Telecommunications Act-- was based on outdated science and narrow assumptions that no longer reflect today’s wireless reality.
In 2021, a federal court ruled that the FCC’s refusal to update its safety standards was unlawful.
The FCC has still not complied.
Instead, it has chosen to move forward with new rules that would completely destroy local authority-- while Congress advances legislation that shields that defiance.
If these efforts succeed, communities across America could face widespread infrastructure buildout with no notice, no public input, and no meaningful local control. Once installed, there would be few avenues for appeal or redress. Local officials would be left powerless to act on behalf of the people they represent.
This is not simply about telecommunications.
It is about whether communities retain the right to govern themselves -- or whether decisions are permanently centralized, far removed from the people who must live with the consequences.
WHY THE HOLIDAYS ARE PART OF THE STRATEGY
This push is happening now because it is easier to do so quietly.
When people are exhausted.
When families are together.
When civic engagement is low.
But federal rulemakings and legislative records do not pause for the holidays. Once deadlines pass, the window for meaningful opposition closes.
The first and most immediate deadline is December 31st-- the close of the FCC’s public comment period for Docket 25-276.
That deadline matters.
THIS IS AN ALL-HANDS-ON-DECK MOMENT
If you believe local communities should have a say in what is built in their neighborhoods, this is the moment to act.
Please take a few minutes-- before December 31-- to make your voice part of the official record.
Go to: https://www.704nomore.org/takeaction
Follow the four action steps provided
Submit your FCC comment before December 31st
Share this widely
I know it’s the holidays. That is exactly why this matters now.
Because once these rules and laws are locked in, the decisions are no longer ours.
For more on this topic, go to The Hill To Die On Series
FCC PUBLIC COMMENT TEMPLATE:
Re: FCC Docket No. 25-276
To the Federal Communications Commission,
I am submitting this comment regarding FCC Docket No. 25-276 to express my strong opposition to the proposed rule changes and to urge the Commission to halt any further action until it fully complies with the 2021 federal court ruling in Environmental Health Trust v. FCC.
Failure to Comply with the Court
In Environmental Health Trust v. FCC (D.C. Circuit, 2021), the court ruled that the FCC acted arbitrarily and capriciously by refusing to update its decades-old radiofrequency (RF) exposure guidelines and by failing to adequately address evidence related to non-cancer health effects, impacts on children, environmental harm, and cumulative exposure.
To date, the FCC has not complied with that ruling. Advancing new rule changes while the agency remains out of compliance with a federal court order is improper and undermines public trust.
Improper Expansion of Federal Preemption
The proposed rules in Docket 25-276 would further expand federal preemption over state and local authority, stripping communities of their ability to meaningfully participate in decisions about wireless infrastructure placement.
Local governments exist to protect public health, safety, welfare, historic resources, environmental integrity, and neighborhood character. These proposed rules would:
Reduce public notice and participation
Limit local review and oversight
Prevent communities from raising legitimate safety, environmental, and land-use concerns
Leave residents and local officials with little to no meaningful recourse
This represents a serious erosion of local self-governance and democratic process.
Section 704 and Outdated Assumptions
Section 704 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 prohibits state and local governments from considering biological and environmental effects of RF radiation, based on outdated science from the 1970s and 1980s that does not reflect today’s wireless technologies, deployment density, or cumulative exposure realities.
Until the FCC updates its RF exposure guidelines in accordance with modern science and the court’s mandate, it is inappropriate—and unlawful—to further entrench or expand this framework.
Request for Immediate Action
I respectfully request that the FCC:
1. Halt all rulemaking related to Docket No. 25-276 until it has fully complied with the Environmental Health Trust v. FCC decision
2. Conduct a comprehensive review of RF exposure guidelines, including impacts on children, vulnerable populations, wildlife, and the environment
3. Preserve and restore meaningful state and local authority over land-use and infrastructure siting decisions
4. Ensure full public participation, transparency, and due process before advancing any further regulatory changes
Closing
Federal agencies should not advance policies that silence communities, ignore court orders, or undermine constitutional principles of federalism and local self-determination.
I urge the Commission to withdraw or pause this proposed rulemaking and to comply fully with the law before taking any further action.
Thank you for considering my comment.
Respectfully,
[Your Name]
[City, State]
[Optional: affiliation or “private citizen”]
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