Page 66 - Carbon Capitalism and Communication Confronting Climate Crisis

50 R. MAXWELL AND T. MILLER

pregnant women and children (National Cancer Institute 2012; McInerny
2013).
And yet, it’s easy to find published research showing little to zero
negative health effects. Many of these studies tend to be industry-funded, a
part of a ‘doubt industry’ that hires ‘sceptics’ to muddy public thinking
with a claim that there are two sides to this story—a common problem in
mainstream media reporting on climate change as well (Oreskes and
Conway 2010). The main tactic of these merchants of doubt is known as
‘war-gaming’ the science—attacking any evidence of harm—a practice
exemplified by how well it worked for the tobacco corporations for many
years (Davis 2013). At least when the tobacco industries lied to us, we
could point to a naturally occurring control group of healthy non-smokers.
There is no control group in the case of artificial EMF exposure.
Environmental organizations could help by making the precautionary
principle a defining feature of workplace safety. This notion basically says
that what we don’t know about a technology for which scientific consensus
is lacking far exceeds what we do know. So, to be on the safe side, we
should avoid cavalier certainties about risks associated with mobile tech-
nology, especially while ongoing research continually shows greater evi-
dence of harm (Maxwell and Miller 2016a, b). Here again, environmental
NGOs can play a demonstrative role by enacting the precautionary prin-
ciple while, at the same time, identifying, analyzing and publicizing the
most up-to-date and independent research. 12

INSTITUTIONAL E-WASTE

In conjunction with improving workplace safety and implementing trans-
parent reporting on procurement practices and energy consumption,
environmental organizations must also be explicit about their end-of-life
management of older or disabled technologies. Green citizens expect
nothing less.
Behind the projections of rising energy demand is the tremendous
growth in sales of electronic equipment. This growth is now mostly made
up of sales of mobile devices like tablets, notebooks, and smartphones, of
which a quarter is attributable to the US alone. Such growth is the result of
the unrelenting marketing of wireless gadgets promoted as tools to keep us
constantly connected to each other and the network.