Energy and Climate

This summer, the mountains moved in Hoopa Valley (CA). As a wildfire burned through trees and vegetation, a thunderstorm dropped two inches of rain in one day. Meanwhile, online, residents were clamoring to Facebook to learn what had happened. Others started to email Frank, who serves as a youth coordinator with Save California Salmon and Miss Na:tini-we’, a cultural and political ambassador for the Hoopa Valley Tribe.

The Federal Communications Commission is the lead U.S.

Netherlands is also the world’s top supplier of seeds for ornamental plants and vegetables. The country is a hub for agricultural research, with 15 of the top twenty agribusinesses having research and development labs in the country. All of this agriculture needs broadband. Like the U.S., the rural areas of the country are the last to get broadband. But the country has put a big push on connectivity. 100% of homes and farms can buy DSL. This is not like the slow rural U.S. DSL, but mostly with reliable speeds between 25 Mbps and 50 Mbps.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $13 billion in new financing opportunities for the expansion and modernization of the nation’s electric grid.

In a November 21 letter signed by Commerce Secretary Raimondo and Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Arati Prabhakar, Reps Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) and Frank Lucas (R-OK) warn the Federal Communications Commission about disruptions to climate data collection in the 1675-1680 MHz band due to spectrum use by wireless providers. "We write to urge you and the Commission to stop consideration of the proposal for sharing the 1675-1680 MHz band for commercial wireless carriers operating in the downlink mode," the lawmakers wrote.

Our changing climate threatens the very services we rely on to keep our businesses online and stay connected with friends and family. As our world warms up, power outages and water shortages have ravaged many parts of the planet. Data centers may be among the first to feel the resource pinch.

The Federal Communications Commission proposed a plan to extend certain Universal Service Fund support to eligible mobile and fixed carriers in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands to ensure consumers have access to advanced telecommunications services in the face of hurricanes and other natural disasters.

We’ve all been told to put more fiber in our diets. But we also know what happens with too much fiber in your diet. It isn’t pretty. The same is true for broadband policy. As US policymakers at every level of government look to spend tens of billions of dollars to connect Americans to high-speed internet, aka broadband, they are far too focused on using a single technology to get the job done: fiber optic cable.

Hurricane Ian took out its fair share of towers in Florida; according to the Federal Communications Commission, nearly a fifth of the cellular sites in its path was put out of service at one point. Many citizens were unable to call for help or to reassure their loved ones that they’d survived the storm. While the need for wired and cellular infrastructure won’t be going away anytime soon, we’re heading toward a future where it’ll be possible to communicate with loved ones and rescue personnel in other ways.

The United States is committed to making further progress on ensuring all our citizens are connected and improving both the level and the quality of telecommunications. We are working to ensure that every American has access to affordable high-speed internet, to invest in resilient infrastructure and more secure networks, and to use technology that aligns with our values.