Defining Terms for Climate Literacy

 

To move forward with substantial, constructive actions that reduce overall consumption and emissions, the public, scientists and policymakers need agreement about our terms. Terms like "sustainability," "zero-emissions" and "carbon-neutrality" tend to focus on a device or vehicle's energy use and emissions during operation--and to exclude energy use and emission during extraction, smelting, manufacturing and recycling or discard. What do such exclusions mean for e-vehicles, smartphones and solar panels? How can we encourage learning about and reducing electronics' true costs? Katie Singer will describe the process involved in manufacturing electronic-grade silicon (similar to solar-grade silicon), and propose that every Internet user learn the international supply chain of one substance (of 1000+) in their device. She will also propose ways to counterbalance a digital footprint.