Home

CO-SPONSORSHIP REQUEST! Contact your legislator to sponsor bills listed at MA Legislation. Click for a SAMPLE SCRIPT!

Working for thoughtful legislation and action to protect environmental health, justice, and civil rights.

  1. If you are using our info, please donate as it is costly, we don't make our expenses and overinvest our time - & don't plagiarize!
  2. CO-SPONSORSHIP REQUEST! Contact your legislator to sponsor bills listed at MA Legislation. Click for a SAMPLE SCRIPT!
  3. Wired Only! Tell Biden & your federal legislators we want funding only for wired broadband and an FCC commissioner focused on wired only - and tell your state legislators you want wired-only funding too!
  4. MA Bill Sponsors. Only you can help! Please educate your MA state legislator on these bills and ask him or her to read our bills and consider sponsorship. Let us know if there is interest. Please see sample materials listed under the Local web page.
  5. Help. We are looking for help from you! We need mega help with everything, so please contact us to offer what you can.
  6. Support on Social Media. Network, share ideas, and vote.
    • NEW LEGISLATION for Feedback & Support. Legislation is being posted on our pages and in groups. Join the groups and vote, provide feedback, and share. There is also a public LinkedIn post and there will be Twitter post for screen time legislation shared by Kirstin.
    • Join our Groups or Comment on Pages. We have 2 Facebook pages: Last Tree Laws and Stop 5G Massachusetts - the groups are not so active but you could change this. Or, join LinkedIn for you must have a LinkedIn account to join the new group 'Last Tree Laws Massachusetts'
    • Twitter. Twitter is handy for messaging. Please join Twitter and help amplify our messages. Kirstin's also on Twitter posting occasionally (@BeattyKirstin) and welcomes assistance sharing posts or via loves.
  7. Protonmail. Please switch to protonmail for your email. Our emails are blocked by other email service providers and sometimes never arrive or a week or more late, sometimes making the email useless. However, if everyone had protonmail, this would likely not be the case. We are switching from tutanota to protonmail after some consideration, although tutanota is also a good service.
  8. Ordinances. Updated page - share with your local officials. We actually were working on updating our sample Massachusetts ordinance.
  9. Email. We continue to have trouble with our email and newsletter. Please consider leaving gmail, yahoo, and other accounts behind in favor of protonmail, which doesn't seem to penalize our email. To contact us, please use both emails. Ideally use a corresponding email service (protonmail for pm.me and tutanota for lasttreelaws.com):
    • lasttreelaws.com following action@
    • pm.me following lasttreelaws@
    • as last resort, try Facebook (Last Tree Laws) or @BeattyKirstin (Twitter)
  10. Collaboration. Help is welcome. Please contact - see contact information in footer below.
  11. Know what you are supporting & question what you are told.
    • Email waste. Signing onto shared testimony and speaking privately one-to-one with your personal legislators appears more helpful to being heard - we know first-hand some legislators do not read emails due to the number incoming!
    • Email or testimony distribution & privacy. Please only share what you can afford to be public when sending testimony, and stick to sending testimony to legislators because:
      • The wrong people, such as connected to industry, may get and forward sensitive information about your situation, including email address, name, disability, bank or legal problems, unpublished research, or other private information.
      • Strangers are strangers. Even legislators may side with industry against your interests.
    • Problem guidance. When signing onto shared testimony or using templates, be careful as some have failed to be critical of problem legislation. Avoid signing on in favor of "great" bills that can be changed later anyway, behind closed doors, and stick instead to signing on in support of concrete ideas. See our blog post on bad bills for more.
    • Dismissal of good legislation. Dr. Tim Schoechle, a telecommunications policy expert, has commended our legislative proposals. We've gotten sponsorship of some good bills. Yet, another group's spokesperson has prefaced introductions of our legislation with negativity, and denied sponsorship of our bills exists.
    • Co-opting voices and advocacy. If a spokesperson speaks on behalf of the group behind closed doors, what is being said? Does the spokesperson represent you or him/herself, i.e. using the group to advance sales, donations, different aims, control, etc.?
    • Collaboration failure. We have shared events of other groups and stopped for now due to lack of (a) time, and (b) for some, lack of fair, sincere quid pro quo and support. We believe in team work, but not at our expense or that of others. Many people work on this issue for free and work hard - failure to provide generous recognition and support increases the pain of doing so and pushes away volunteers.

  1. Pittsfield Health Department Investigation. The City Council unanimously voted to require the health department to investigate the symptoms reported after installation of a cell tower.
  2. Boston opposes 5G. The City of Boston has submitted to the FCC a call to "refresh" its outdated exposure guidelines and discusses small wireless facilities (SWFs) as being health concerns. Boston adds that it believes the concerns of the public are real.
  3. Electromagnetic sensitivity:Shelburne Falls
  4. Senator Markey. Markey keeps supporting 5G rollouts.
  5. Federal Representatives Neal and McGovern (Western MA) signed onto bills to reverse FCC decisions against local control (see politician scorecards).
  6. Stop5G ordinancechanges: Burlington, Bedford, Lincoln, Southborough, Wayland, Pittsfield, Cambridge (more recent), etc. Stockbridge has a large setback as does Sheffield.
  7. Pittsfield Suit. Residents are suing to take down a cell tower.
  8. Edgartown Trial. David Strayton is suing to take down a cell tower.
  9. Western MA wireless rollout. Senator Hinds and Comerford inserted an amendment for a few million to support wireless in rural western Massachusetts. This is because areas like Monterey complained about Verizon service.
  10. Cell tower opposition: Centerville, Needham, North Andover, Franklin, Leominster, Dover-Sherborn Regional School, Peabody, Pittsfield, Mashpee, Monterey, Chappaquiddick/ Edgartown (lawsuit before AGO); Southwick (tower denied)
  11. Smart meters
    1. Patricia Burke Natural Blaze (Patricia has many other articles posted)
    2. Greenfield Recorder co-chair Kirstin Beatty
    3. Worcester
    4. Concord

  1. Court Likely to Reverse FCC Decision on Guideline Safety - National Law Review reports - link down, however.
  2. New Hampshire 5G/Wireless Investigation - Final report released.
  3. Oregon Wireless Investigation - With the urging of parent David Morrison & others: SB 283 received unaminous approval in state senate, 50-8 support in state house, and was signed August 9th by Gov. Kate Brown. However, the final report is a disappointment as he reports. This is a lesson in why it is better to take into consideration an investigation or specific action such as proposed for Massachusetts.
  4. Stop5G Resolutions have been passed by Hawaii County, Easton (CT), and Farragut (TN) - Trump's Mar-A-Lago is excluded from 5G.
    • For more examples, please see the Environmental Health Trust > Key Issues > 5G
  5. Congress divided on 5G Upgrade Order. The extraordinary 5G Upgrade Order, to preempt local permitting authority, received a letter of opposition and a letter of support from members of Congress. See our politician scorecard for more.

  1. Groups ask FCC to pause commercial 6 GHz device certification to prevent interference with public safety and criticial infrastructure services, including the Utility Technology Council (UTC), the American Gas Association, the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO) International, the American Petroleum Institute (API), American Public Power Association (APPA), American Water Works Association, Edison Electric Institute (EEI), International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC), the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council (NPSTC) and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA)
  2. Satellites:
    1. 5G may be replaced by lasers from satellites.
    2. Starlink SpaceX satellites are transmitting for service in N. USA and southern CAN from 44.9 - 51.8. (about Minneapolis to Saskatoon) - the Oct. 6, 2020, launch assured enough transmitting power for consumer beta testing, in contrast to previous employee testing.
    3. Satellite densification:
      1. There were 2 satellites in the 1970s, 3 in the 80s, 215 in the 90s per this graphic: http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/14/satellites/index.html
      2. Union for Concerned Scientists maintains a list of total operational satellites. https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/satellite-database - another list including nonoperational is here: https://www.pixalytics.com/satellites-orbiting-earth-2019/
    4. Starlink reports "extraordinary demand" August 2020 with nearly 700K requesting service (or are these new subscribers?), leading to a request to double user terminals. The U.S. Army also signed a contract.
    5. Sept. 2020 WA firefighters used Starlink SpaceX satellite transmissions (Nat'l Post, Thomas Seal, 8 Oct 2020).
  3. Verizon Digital Promise Innovative Learning Schools - provides technology with high frequency 28 GHz 5G, primarily to poor schools - see timeline.

Please consider donating to Last Tree Laws to allow us to promote what we do! Please also consider donating to Kirstin, who is not paid but writes the legislation, to support her in journalism and educational work (see her information further below).

  1. LAST TREE LAWS. Donate online or by check! See the donorbox for online donations at the top of the MA Legislation page. Here is how to send a check:
    1. Mail to Last Tree Laws, c/o K. Beatty, 149 Central Pk Dr, Holyoke, MA, 01040
    2. Address check to Last Tree Laws
    3. Include this information (required by law - the state accounts for this and it is public information):
      1. Your occupation
      2. Your employer
      3. Your address
  2. KIRSTIN BEATTY. Thanks to Kirstin. Consider supporting Beatty.fyi, Kirstin's site, as thanks for her extensive work for Last Tree Laws - her work has gone unpaid. Kirstin would appreciate monthly patronage to provide some security and allow continued volunteering. Here is how to do so:
    1. Visit the website Beatty.fyi and use online donation system, or
    2. Use US postal service:
      1. Mail check to K. Beatty, 149 Central Park Drive, Holyoke, MA 01040
      2. Address check to Kirstin Beatty

I taught 6-12 English until becoming very ill and sensitive to wireless. After, I researched, prepared educational materials, lobbied, strategized, & wrote legislation – like original, first-in-the-nation legislation on screens in schools or attention to wireless and medical care. I've helped many other advocates and organizations, but financially this has been tenuous and remains difficult. So while donations to LTL support LTL, for my benefit I have a new blog, Beatty.fyi, to provide a) my political and educational articles and other resources, b) an option to financially support continuing work, and c) a store of teaching materials and other items.

Twitter tag: @BeattyKirstin

Tatiana works on housing safety, mold awareness, asthma, the Springfield biomass facility, and other equity issues. Tatiana has been working on increasing wireless awareness in Springfield. She works closely with Arise for Social Justice and Science for the People.

Anon is a freelancer volunteering to assist Last Tree Laws with web page design – she is very busy, however, with other work. She is concerned about poor electromagnetic regulation and protections. She respectfully requests anonymity.

We are still working on legislation for a new ballot measure. The legislation drafted for this 2021-2022 legislative session may be a possibility - we're not ready to make a final analysis as to what is best as first we are putting forward options. We have several other options, such as:

    1. Direct regulation of environmental toxins.
    2. Systematic overhaul of environmental health regulations (requires more time to draft and edit: a long-term goal).
    3. Legislation to influence the integrity of the legisative process.
    4. Legislation to reduce the influence of corporations on government institutions.

You can see from our other legislation (MA legislation) that we are serious, but our right now we are focused on this 2021-2022 session, and will come back to the drawing board in late February 2021 to decide how to proceed.

We are also working on and crafting legislation around electromagnetic pollution such as wireless. We are uncertain whether public sentiment supports electromagnetic regulation so far as to make a ballot measure feasible, but are work on legislation development in this area and promotion of public understanding on this topic for future measures or in case public support exists.

Please consider donating in support!

Our fight for technology regulations isn't just about the environment or technology, but social justice. A lot of legislation out there provides special favors and business opportunities for a few - instead, we favor legislation that helps everyone and avoids promotion of products, individuals, or businesses. Addressing environmental problems should not be an exclusive business opportunity or require payment for knowledge or safety.

Locally, technology needs to be regulated in areas such as:

      • developing safer, accessible technologies;
      • limiting toxic chemicals & managing waste;
      • limits on digital marketing & excess screen time;
      • protecting digital privacy;
      • protecting public education & curriculum;
      • alternatives, such as eco-friendly jobs and entertainment;
      • reducing electromagnetic emissions (wireless and electric exposures);
      • acknowledge hubris and ignorance (e.g. genetic and nano engineering outcomes)
      • limiting resource consumption (mining, scarcity);
      • limits on automation (education, jobs, life);
      • protecting quality of life and democracy in Massachusetts and globally;
      • preventing monopoly, and
      • preventing poverty.

For more information on some of these issues, please see our web pages "Why?" and "Local."

We continue to work on developing and improving legislation. Right now we are solidifying environmental and social justice legislation for 2021. We've been first to draft some legislative solutions, including but not limited to:

      • registration of cell tower ownership;
      • eliminating mandate on screen time in K-12 public schools;
      • K-12 privacy protections;
      • funding hard-wired education (new);
      • requiring state invest only in hard-wired communications.

Additional work includes:

    • Preparing a ballot measure poll, which you can take here;
    • Researching, synthesizing, creating, and sharing information & materials;
    • Updating an ordinance to restrict 5G infrastructure specific to MA; (contact us if you would like to share ours with your town);
    • Ordinance development;
    • Providing in-depth, original analysis of Massachusetts laws, ALEC-funded bills and identification of industry groups;
    • Analyzing some FCC rules and regulations;
    • Working on a ballot measure and ballot measure legislation;
    • Organizing educational events.

Before continuing, would you please consider chipping in to help continue our legislative work and keep our online presence. We need funds!

Please help Last Tree Laws pay our bills to maintain the website and email services. We are cash-strapped and need patrons!

If you cannot provide financial support, volunteers and collaboration are also very welcome.

DONATING BY U.S. POST:

To donate to Last Tree Laws by mail, address, stamp, and send an envelope as follows:

  • Include check addressed to Last Tree Laws
  • Include note that includes (as required by the state accounting requirements):
    • Full name
    • Full mailing address
    • Phone number (not for state reporting, but used in case of payment issues)
    • Occupation
    • Employer
  • Address stamped envelope:
    Last Tree Laws,
    c/o K. Beatty
    149 Central Pk Dr
    Holyoke, MA 01040

Important Notes: Political donations are not tax-deductible. Donations and accompanying data listed above, minus phone number, are public record and are submitted to the Massachusetts Secretary of State, along with all expenditures as required by state law.

Ballot measure co-chair and director Kirstin Beatty has a website, Beatty.fyi, that accepts donations to support her research, media, and educational work. A check addressed to Kirstin would be construed as supporting that website and Kirstin's personal finances, instead of Last Tree Laws. Address to Last Tree Laws if donating to Last Tree Laws.

Please see our "Why?" page for general concerns and our "Local" page for helpful materials. Please let us know if you have any trouble downloading any materials.