Skill #1 for a Brave New World
Looking back, we see important flaws in the relationship between the human-dominated landscape and the natural world. Looking ahead, we see a need to reform the relationship—but find it hard to know just how we might alter our direction, shift our momentum, adjust our speed. We seek a more careful “meshing” of social and natural systems, but we have no sure map to guide us.
—Conservation biologist Curt Meine, “Inherit the Grid,” 1997
Learning about the energy use, extractions, water use and toxic waste involved in running the Internet, solar PVs, industrial wind, batteries and e-vehicles has challenged me to my core. Writing about our technologies’ ecological impacts has rarely changed individuals’ behavior or led to policies that reduce our ecological impacts. Already, the Cloud has a greater carbon footprint than the airline industry. Now, president-elect Donald Trump promises to dismantle environmental protections and ramp up A.I. and crypto-currency.
I need coping skills.
A few days after the election, I heard a woman say that she starts her day with thanks for the land, water and air around her home.
I tried this right away.
My thanks came out mechanical and speedy.
Day 2, I slowed down enough to notice the dirt around my house and the water at my tap. At sunset, I noticed the sky. Thank you.
Day 3, I acknowledged that since my birth, I’ve expected clean tapwater 24/7—along with electricity, a car, a phone, a fridge, a washer/dryer and grocery stores packed with nutritious, affordable food. If paying the corporations that supply these things is an expression of gratitude, then I thank corporations for their products and services much more often than I thank Nature or my parents and grandparents or the plants and animals that give me life.
Day 4, I realized that when I began expecting a word processor in the 1980s and Internet access in the 1990s, it did not occur to me to thank the Earth for providing them. I did not begin questioning the ecological impacts of manufacturing, operating or discarding computers or telecom infrastructure until I had used computers for 25 years.
Day 5, I noticed myself fretting that my life is not sustainable. I can barely afford rent, electricity, indoor plumbing, a refrigerator, a car and Internet access. If thanking the Earth for use of its gifts needs daily exercise, then I need to start practicing.
Day 6, I wonder about my ancestors who survived without electricity, indoor plumbing, a fridge, a car or Internet access. Did they say thanks each time they received food and shelter? Did they start their days trusting Nature to provide?
Day 7. I delight in tending my vegetable and herb garden. I like to cook, too. But once I’ve got a bowl of food, I can forget to say thanks for it. Twenty years ago, Amish friends taught me to keep silent for two minutes before eating. Without them at my table, this muscle has atrophied.
Call skill #1 balancing awareness of our technosphere’s ecological impacts…with gratitude for life. At the moment, I am way out of balance.
I’ve begun listing other skills I need to develop in these times. I’ll write about them in my next Substacks.
NEWS
Asianometry’s Jon Y has just posted The Big Data Center Water Problem, November 20, 2024. He reports that a single data center can consume the equivalent electricity of 50,000 homes—and those computers need cooling systems…which need water. For one example, the Utah Data Center (part of the U.S. National Security Agency) daily guzzles seven million gallons of water. A.I. has us building LOTS of data storage centers.
I’ve also learned lots from Jon Y’s The Big Semiconductor Water Problem.
Steven Gonzalez Monserrate gives an excellent overview in The Staggering Ecological Impacts of Computation and the Cloud.
Now, Sam Biddle reports that Trump’s election is also a win for tech. “Trump has surrounded himself with ‘techno-optimists’—people who believe technology is the answer to every problem.” (Honestly, it looks like most presidents have received advice from techno-optimists.)
The Financial Times reports that Constellation Energy has made a 20-year power supply deal with Microsoft and plans to restart the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Middletown, Pennsylvania—site of the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history—in 2028.
Cyber-security experts warn that this election was hacked. Thanks to technology, this might be impossible to verify. What can people who care about democracy do?
Elon Musk says, “We have to reduce spending to live within our means…. That necessarily involves some temporary hardship, but it will ensure long-term prosperity.” He said that the federal government’s $6.8 trillion budget should be slashed by at least $2 trillion. What would it look like to live within our ecological means?
The Stk'emlupsemc te Secwepemc Nation (SSN)'s Southern Tmicw (territory) has decided not to consent to expansion of The Highland Valley Copper Mine (HVC) in British Colombia. SSN has determined that the impacts of the proposed Copper Mine Life Extension Project are neither reasonable nor sustainable. HVC has already caused serious harm to the lands and water in SSN's ancestral lands, and SSN believes that the proposed project would lead to more significant and permanent damage.
Related substacks:
Discovering Power’s Traps: a primer for electricity users
21 questions for solar PV explorers
Fire hazards at the battery storage system coming near you
The Great Salt Lake is Disappearing. So, Utah Banned the Rights of Nature. A guest essay by Will Falk
How/can we protect the Earth when we need a car?
This is clear and helpful. Thank you so much.
Katie, Thanks for sharing some of your personal experience and the links! In my experience, the daily thankings and relating with the trees, birds, plants, insects, etc. around the house is like any caring relationship with a human being, it takes time to build trust and deeper levels of communication, participation, etc. and one can receive guidance from all that, along with listening deeply, etc.