Redakcija 
Sjećanje: Arthur Firstenberg (28. maj 1950 – 25. februar 2025)
Arthur Firstenberg, pisac, ekolog i aktivista, preminuo je u svom domu nakon mjeseci nedijagnosticirane bolesti, okružen porodicom i prijateljima.
Artur je rođen u Bruklinu u Njujorku u porodici preživjelih u holokaustu. Ljeta provedena u djetinjstvu u sjevernom dijelu New Yorka, Grand Canyonu, Nacionalnom parku Yosemite i na ostrvu u blizini Newfoundlanda podstakla su njegovu ljubav prema prirodi. Na Univerzitetu Cornell posvetio je pola svog vremena planinarenju, vožnji kanua i penjanju po stijenama – a pola fizici, matematici, drevnim civilizacijama i stranim jezicima. Nakon što je diplomirao 1971. godine, živio je sa malim farmerima u Norveškoj i među tradicionalnim Majama u Gvatemali.
PROČITAJTE INTERVJU KOJI JE ARTHUR FIRSTENBERG DA ZA AVLIJU U MAJU 2022.
Od 1978. do 1982. Artur je pohađao medicinsku školu na Univerzitetu Kalifornije, Irvine. Otišao je prije nego što je diplomirao nakon što je više od 40 rendgenskih snimaka zuba dovelo do mučnine od mikrovalne pećnice.
Postao je vegetarijanac i praktičar Feldenkraisa.
Godine 1986. Artur je učestvovao u Velikom maršu mira za globalno nuklearno razoružanje. Dok je hodao po SAD-u, svjedočio je uništavanju Zemlje i njenih stvorenja od strane modernog društva. Godine 1989., u potrazi za jednostavnim životom, otputovao je u najsjeverniju Kanadu, ali je i tamo zatekao srceparajuće uništenje.
1996. godine, da bi ubrzao uvođenje usluga mobilne telefonije, Kongres je usvojio Zakon o telekomunikacijama. Njegov član 704 zabranjuje opštinama da uskraćuju dozvole za postavljanje ćelijskih antena na osnovu njihovog uticaja na životnu sredinu. Arthur je osnovao Cellular Phone Task Force i počeo da obezbeđuje klirinšku kuću za informacije o štetnim efektima bežičnih tehnologija i globalnu mrežu podrške za osobe sa invaliditetom zbog elektromagnetnih polja. Počeo je pratiti zahtjeve za dozvole koje su korporacije upućivale opštinama da instaliraju ćelijske antene, pametne brojila i druge tehnologije koje emituju zračenje – i okupio je druge da pokušaju zaustaviti takve napore.
Godine 1997, na osnovu prava država, prirode i osoba sa invaliditetom, Radna grupa za mobilne telefone pridružila se drugim grupama kako bi osporila ograničenja izlaganja radiofrekventnom zračenju Federalne komisije za komunikacije. Njihovi napori su bili neuspješni.
2002. godine, SAD Pristupni odbor je priznao da se prema Zakonu o Amerikancima sa invaliditetom (ADA) i 1990. godine, elektromagnetna osjetljivost može smatrati invaliditetom.
Arthur se preselio u Santa Fe, NM 2005. Predstavljajući se prepunoj publici u Ženskom klubu, naveo je neke od efekata izlaganja elektromagnetnom zračenju – mučninu, krvarenje iz nosa, dijareju, glavobolje, nesanicu, umor, nepravilan gubitak kose i bolove u živcima. Mnogi ljudi su bili dirnuti do suza kada su shvatili efekte bežičnih tehnologija na njihove porodice, kućne ljubimce i sebe.
Svaki put kada bi korporacija predložila novi toranj za mobilne telefone ili grad predložio instaliranje novog WiFi-a, ili je kompanija predložila prijenos „pametnih“ brojila, Arthur je obavještavao svoju mailing listu i ohrabrivao ljude da prisustvuju javnim raspravama i govore. Sala Gradskog vijeća često su bila prepuna.
Arthur je postao poznat po svojoj netoleranciji prema bežičnim uređajima, svojim strastvenim javnim komentarima, nespremnosti na kompromise po pitanju ekološkog ili javnog zdravlja, te po tužbi susjeda čiji ga je Wi-Fi smetao. NY Times i drugi mediji više puta su ismijavali Arthura zbog te tužbe. Pažnja ga nije uznemirila.
Godine 2021, preko Saveza za javno zdravlje i sigurnost Santa Fea, podnio je peticiju SAD-u. Vrhovni sud će odlučiti o 1) da li član 704 Zakona o telekomunikacijama krši pravo na pristup sudovima iz Prvog amandmana i 2) da li „efekti na životnu sredinu“ takođe obuhvataju „posljedice na zdravlje“. Mnoge organizacije su se pridružile ovoj tužbi, ali je Vrhovni sud odbio da sasluša slučaj.
Arthur je pratio datume svog iskustva s novim ili pojačanim simptomima – i otkrio da su u korelaciji s datumima uključivanja satelita, 5G i drugih tehnologija. U Nevidljivoj dugi povezao je porast elektrifikacije s porastom ranije nepoznatih bolesti, uključujući rak, bolesti srca, dijabetes i Alchajmerovu bolest. Zračenje koje emituju bežični telefoni, mobilne antene, mobilni telefoni, laptopi, fluorescentna svjetla, sateliti, pametna brojila, noviji automobili i drugi odašiljači smatrao je kršenjem prirode.
Godinama je Artur obilazio Santa Fe biciklom. Nikada nije imao televiziju ili mobilni telefon. Sanjao je kako ljudi ljubazno prihvaćaju zahtjeve susjeda da isključe mobilne uređaje i isključe WiFi. Budući da kompjuteri pustoše Zemlju i javno zdravlje od kolevke do groba, sanjao je o društvu sa zajedničkim – a ne u individualnom vlasništvu – kompjuterima. Često je pozivao ljude da prestanu koristiti mobilne uređaje.
Kao član Once A Forest, protivio se politici upravljanja šumama kao što su prorjeđivanje i propisani požari.
Arthur je shvatio posljedice električne energije na dohvat ruke.
„Jedina stvar koju zaista možemo učiniti za Zemlju je da prestanemo da je uništavamo. Tada će se Zemlja pobrinuti za sebe. Umjesto da pokušavamo popraviti cijelu planetu, hajde da obratimo pažnju na svoje jednostavne živote.” (Arthur Firstenberg)
Firstenbergove knjige uključuju The Invisible Rainbow: A History of Electricity and Life (Chelsea Green, 2020, više od 100.000 prodatih primjeraka); Mikrovalna pećnica Naša planeta: Uticaj bežične revolucije na životnu sredinu (1997); i, najskorije, Zemlja i ja (Skyhorse, 2025).
Arthur Firstenberg je preživio nećaka i bezbroj ljudi posvećenih poštovanju prirode i smanjenju štete od elektronskih tehnologija po ekosisteme i javno zdravlje.
Memorijalni skup održan je u subotu, 1. marta u Glavnoj biblioteci Santa Fea.
Zoom memorijal će biti zakazan kasnije.
Arthur Firstenberg, author, environmentalist and activist, died in his home after months of an undiagnosed illness, surrounded by family and friends.
Arthur was born in Brooklyn, New York to survivors of the Holocaust. His childhood summers in upstate New York, the Grand Canyon, Yosemite National Park, and on an island near Newfoundland fostered his love of nature. At Cornell University, he devoted half of his time to hiking, canoeing and rock climbing—and half to physics, mathematics, ancient civilizations and foreign languages. After graduating in 1971, he lived with small farmers in Norway and among Guatemala’s traditional Maya.
From 1978 to 1982, Arthur attended medical school at the University of California, Irvine. He left before graduating after more than 40 dental x-rays led to his experiencing microwave sickness.
He became a vegetarian and a Feldenkrais practitioner.
In 1986, Arthur participated in the Great Peace March for Global Nuclear Disarmament. While walking across the U.S., he witnessed modern society’s destruction of the Earth and its creatures. In 1989, in search of a simple life, he traveled to northernmost Canada but found heart-wrenching destruction there, too.
In 1996, to expedite the roll-out of cellular phone service, Congress passed the Telecommunications Act. Its Section 704 prohibits municipalities from denying permits to install cellular antennas based on their environmental effects. Arthur founded the Cellular Phone Task Force and began providing a clearinghouse for information about wireless technologies’ injurious effects and a global support network for people disabled by electromagnetic fields. He began tracking the permit requests that corporations made to municipalities to install cellular antennas, smart meters and other radiation-emitting technologies—and rallied others to try to stop such efforts.
In 1997, based on the rights of states, nature and disabled people, the Cellular Phone Task Force joined other groups to challenge the Federal Communications Commission’s radio-frequency radiation exposure limits. Their efforts were unsuccessful.
In 2002, the U.S. Access Board recognized that under the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), electromagnetic sensitivities may be considered disabilities.
Arthur moved to Santa Fe, NM in 2005. Introducing himself to a packed audience at the Women’s Club, he named some of the effects of exposure to electromagnetic radiation—nausea, nosebleeds, diarrhea, headaches, insomnia, fatigue, irregular hair loss and nerve pain. Many people were moved to tears as they realized wireless technologies’ effects on their families, pets and themselves.
Each time a corporation proposed a new cell tower or the city proposed installing new WiFi, or a utility proposed transmitting “smart” meters, Arthur notified his mailing list and encouraged people to attend public hearings and speak out. The City Council chambers often overflowed.
Arthur became known for his intolerance of wireless devices, his passionate public comments, his unwillingness to compromise on ecological or public health, and for suing a neighbor whose Wi-Fi disturbed him. The NY Times and other media repeatedly ridiculed Arthur for that lawsuit. The attention did not faze him.
In 2021, through the Santa Fe Alliance for Public Health and Safety, he petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on 1) whether the Telecom Act’s Section 704 violates the First Amendment right of access to courts and 2) whether “environmental effects” also encompasses “health effects.” Many organizations joined this suit, but the Supreme Court refused to hear the case.
Arthur tracked the dates of his experience of new or intensified symptoms—and found that they correlated with the dates on which satellites, 5G and other technologies turned on. In The Invisible Rainbow, he correlated electrification’s rise with the increase of previously unknown diseases including cancer, heart disease, diabetes and Alzheimer’s. He considered radiation emitted by cordless phones, cellular antennas, mobile phones, laptops, fluorescent lights, satellites, smart utility meters, newer cars and other transmitting devices a violation of nature.
For years, Arthur got around Santa Fe with a bicycle. He never owned a television or a cell phone. He dreamed of people politely accepting neighbors’ requests to turn off mobile devices and unplug WiFi. Because computers ravage the Earth and public health from their cradles-to-graves, he dreamed of a society with shared—not individually owned—computers. He frequently called for people to quit using mobile devices.
As a member of Once A Forest, he opposed forest management policies such as thinning and prescribed fires.
Arthur understood the consequences of the electrical power at our fingertips.
~~~
“The only thing we can really do for the Earth is to stop destroying it.
Then the Earth will take care of itself. Instead of trying to fix the whole planet, let us attend to our own simple lives.”
Arthur Firstenberg
~~~
Firstenberg’s books include The Invisible Rainbow: A History of Electricity and Life (Chelsea Green, 2020, more than 100,000 copies sold); Microwaving Our Planet: The Environmental Impact of the Wireless Revolution (1997); and, most recently, The Earth and I(Skyhorse, 2025).
Arthur Firstenberg is survived by a nephew and countless people committed to respecting nature and reducing electronic technologies’ harms to ecosystems and public health.
A memorial gathering was held Saturday, March 1st at the Santa Fe Main Library.
A Zoom memorial will be scheduled at a later date.
