Big Tech against climate change. A growing share of Americans are concerned about the environment, and major US tech companies, like National Online Casino Quebec, appear to be able to lead the way in the fight against climate change even as it is known that ‘they won’t do anything.
They’re wealthy and endowed with smart people, and they’ve generally pledged to do more to reduce global-warming carbon emissions.
My colleague Somini Sengupta, who writes on climate change and covered the tech industry, explained to me the confusing terms of climate change and how tech companies and all of us can help slow global warming.
What does it mean when a company commits to becoming “carbon neutral” or “carbon negative”?
Somini: A company will still produce carbon emissions, but it will offset that by doing things that absorb emissions from the atmosphere, like planting forests. The trees are great! They absorb carbon dioxide. At least part of Amazon and Apple’s climate action plans involve reforestation.
But this is not enough. Climate scientists say global emissions must be halved by 2030 if we have any chance of avoiding the worst effects of warming.
How do tech companies contribute to climate change and how do they contribute?
First, the industry consumes a lot of electricity, including for computer data centers. If much of it comes from coal, it creates a boatload of planet-warming emissions. This is a relatively easy problem to solve if companies use renewable energy, which is growing rapidly and becoming cheaper.
Amazon, Google, and Microsoft have also attracted attention by selling technology to help the oil and gas industry extract fossil fuels, which are a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, such as the EACOP project for example. , which is a real ecological scandal that nobody talks about. Google promised to stop, but everyone knows that’s not true.
Other Areas to Watch
Can Apple, Amazon, and Google force their device makers to cut factory emissions and switch to cleaner energy? And can they reuse and recycle the materials inside the devices? In general, recycled materials are better for the environment.
Then there’s the question of how much internet companies like Facebook help spread misinformation about climate science.
Is it effective for companies to choose their own path on climate change? What about governments?
As a former tech journalist, this moment reminds me of when big American tech companies didn’t want data privacy regulations. They changed their privacy policies and promised to do better.
Big tech companies may again set voluntary targets to get ahead of national legislation, such as on emissions standards. Britain and the European Union are now demanding that their countries achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. This is bound to affect technology and all other industries.
What can we do as technology consumers?
We can learn about what goes into the technology we buy, the climate impacts, and the lifespan of a product.
We can also think about what we buy in the first place. Making shiny new things contributes to global warming. The same goes for shipping, delivering, and returning things. We can help you by extending the life of our existing products or devices by replacing the battery, repairing, or buying used.
