Craven Decisions That Affect Us All
Better writers and thinkers than me have been discussing the concept of institutional capture. This is a form of political corruption that involves placing ideologically motivated people in particular institutions to no longer act for the benefits of all but the specific interests of powerful people.
We have seen it in the UK with regard to, in particular, trans rights. A glaring example is the Equality and Human Rights Commission (they are so bad that even the United Nations took notice). There is another aspect of this that has become quite glaring: these people are craven. They want to make their decisions but they do not have the guts to own the consequences of them. It can be seen in the EHRC, but I want to tell you about the U.S. and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
Against many people's wishes, the FCC approved the Reflect Orbital proposal of placing a mirror in space that can be used to light up an area of the Earth at night. Why, you might ask? Apparently, according to their website, it is to light up solar power plants and disaster areas. Very altruistic aims, if you feel like believing it.
Alfredo Carpineti
The approval is for one test satellite, and they want to send 50,000 into space. What would 50,000 do? Destroy the night sky forever. Oh Alfredo, you like to exaggerate, right? Nope, there is a new model published just last week showing that it would make dark sky sanctuaries as bright as suburban areas, completely stopping astronomy from the ground, and I know that in cities you can only see a handful of stars today, but if this comes to pass, we won't see them anymore. These satellites will be the only things we'll see in the night sky.
The American Astronomical Society has also highlighted the risk to drivers, pilots, and amateur astronomers who are suddenly blinded by the light, as well as the danger to the natural world. Darkness and night are very necessary to us and the other living beings on this planet. That's where the FCC got at its most craven.
Alfredo Carpineti
“We find the risks of harm raised on the record regarding Reflect Orbital’s solar reflector are unrelated to the Commission’s role in authorizing use of radiofrequency spectrum, and even if the Commission had authority to review and condition these operations (which it does not), these harms are unlikely to occur,” the FCC wrote in the report.
Who's got the authority then? For better or for worse, the FCC decides what goes into space. They are happy to ignore all the negative comments on proposals, dismiss risks, and ignore the fact that the head of the FCC has a close friendship with Elon Musk. But hey, it's not their responsibility to evaluate risks of what's sent to space.
They love to be in charge and make the decisions, but they do not want the responsibility for any adverse consequences of those decisions. Decisions that do not only affect the people of the United States but also everyone in the world.
I do not believe it comes as a surprise that these people want and love their power, but they have zero interest in being held accountable for their choices.
Ok, I have been too ranty, and I wanted this to be a happy newsletter (I promise the next one is about space rainbows!), but some cool science that came out this week is the discovery of the most distant quasars to date!
The book tour continues: July 22 at The Heath Bookshop in Birmingham
July 22
More dates coming soon (Blackpool, Bath, Edinburgh, Glasgow)