A powerful and insightful piece by Michelle on the direct environmental impact the tech sector has, the way in which tech workers can demand further accountability and action, and the reality that green energy/land use aren't the only relevant factors. For the web to be truly "green", in should also help elevate social goals and embrace a holistic approach to climate action.
In the tech sector, when people talk about greening the web, they usually talk about energy. But really we should be talking about power
We need to go beyond tech solutionism and towards intersectional climate justice work. We need to go beyond individual action. We need to shift the power of systemic inequalities, hold major polluters to account, and dismantle the forces—financial, political and cultural—that hold us back from a greener internet and a more sustainable society.
Our work will not be done even if all of the internet runs on green energy—we need the internet to work within planetary boundaries and to uphold the human rights of every person.
On the commitments of firms like Amazon and Google to become more environmentally conscious and reach net-zero (kinda amazing):
And then to meet these targets, Big Tech became the biggest corporate buyers of green energy in the world.
