Electronic Overconsumption and Green Colonialism
Many critics of AI cite environmental concerns like water and land usage as justification for restricting its use. Environmental concerns are not unique to AI though, modern technology like laptops and electric cars use numerous minerals and often aren’t recyclable. Is this a fault of technology or a symptom of a societal issue?
Green Technology
In an attempt to slow climate change, we have developed environmentally friendly versions of previous technologies. For example, electric cars are touted as the solution to reducing mining for oil. Unfortunately though, a typical electric car uses nearly 500 pounds of minerals. Electric cars are made with lithium-ion batteries, which of course, require lithium. Lithium mining is both a cause of deforestation and pollution. Most lithium is imported because there is only one currently operating lithium mine in the United States. That means that the pollution caused by this mining predominantly impacts poor communities where labor is cheap.
I don’t think electric cars are bad as a whole. We should be reducing our usage of gasoline as much as possible. Living near highways has been shown to be associated with poorer health outcomes due to air pollution. But by using electric cars, we are improving the environmental conditions where these cars are being used (predominantly wealthy areas) while not addressing pollution in the areas where we obtain the resources from (often underprivileged communities.) We are prioritizing a fix that makes us feel better without fully understanding the consequences.
The success of environmental policies is often focused on statistics, but you can’t explain the human impact with just numbers. In another class I explored a controversial plan by Norway to allow deep-sea mining. Maybe you don’t particularly care about marine life (you should,) but think about the effects harming marine life would have on people. The Sami people are an indigenous group in Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. The culture of the Sea or Coastal Sami is highly dependent on fishing and could be devastated by water pollution and other consequences of deep-sea mining.
Some Sami people are reindeer herders and have advocated against ‘green colonialism.’ Since the area where many Sami live is considered remote, it is seen as the perfect area to build wind turbines. Reindeer are terrified of wind turbines, and won’t go anywhere near them, which impacts their normal migration patterns. This is one of the many instances where environmental policies have disproportionately impacted marginalized communities, especially indigenous ones.
Overconsumption
According to NPR, electric vehicles produce more emissions during manufacturing, but less during their use. How can we actually know that the impact of an electric car is less than a gas-powered car? It depends on how people use their cars, whether they replace them after a year or until they can no longer be repaired. Should someone who only drives once a week buy a gas-powered car over an electric car? If you get an electric car that you only drive occasionally, is the negative impact really that much less? I don’t know the answer to this, and I think it is really difficult to quantify the impact of these cars because use is dependent on the circumstances.
As I discussed briefly in Exploring the Intricacies of Generative AI, modern society has turned towards convenient, non-repairable products as the standard. Furniture is made of MDF instead of solid wood, clothes are made of synthetic fabrics drenched in chemicals, and electronics can’t be fixed or upgraded. I don’t think there is enough focus on the culture of overconsumption we have in the United States. There is a reason the saying is “reduce, reuse, recycle.” Reducing our consumption comes first.
Final Thoughts
What is the best way to reduce overconsumption? I think as economic conditions get worse for people, we reach for cheap products that don’t last because we just care about surviving now. I don’t have an answer for the economic state of the world! However, I do think people who are economically able should buy things that will last and can be repaired whenever possible. We can vote with our wallets. The only way to get tech companies to make products that last is bring our business to ones that do.
Sources:
- From Mining to E-waste: The Environmental and Climate Justice Implications of the Electronics Hardware Life Cycle
- A comprehensive review of lithium extraction: From historical perspectives to emerging technologies, storage, and environmental considerations
- Near Roadway Air Pollution and Health: Frequently Asked Questions
- Their batteries hurt the environment, but EVs still beat gas cars. Here’s why
