Mapping Our Technosphere
This post is from the May 2023 Newsletter from Katie Singer
My new report, “Transportation within our means,”
illuminutes the shocking realities of electrifying everything.
It’s posted at https://katiesinger.substack.com.
Please sign up for a free or paid subscription!
Last March, after Judge Miranda Du ruled that there’s no ecological reason to stop lithium mining at Thacker Pass, Nevada, Lithium Americas began constructing a mining site. E-vehicles’ and mobile devices’ batteries depend on lithium. Last week, elders from the nearby Paiute-Shoshone tribe established Ox Sam Camp to prevent further destruction of Thacker Pass. Attorney Will Falk speaks about lithium mining—one way that electric vehicles harm the earth.
Because telecommunications requires millions of miles of fiber optic cables, thousands of towers, earth-based stations and satellites, and hundreds of thousands of small cells, the telecom industry’s environmental footprint leaves wetlands filled, viewsheds marred, cultural resources damaged and wildlife habitat destroyed. Former FCC attorney Erica Rosenberg has documented the FCC’s failure to fulfill its mandatory duties related to environmental review regarding deployment of telecommunications infrastructure. View Erica Rosenberg interviewed by EH Trust’s Theodora Scarato. Read Rosenberg’s paper, Environmental Procedures at the FCC: A Case Study in Corporate Capture.
AI developer Gregory Hinton believes that AIs are now very close to being more intelligent than humans.Because of this profound risk to humanity, Hinton and more than 1000 researchers and technologists have called for a six-month pause on AI development. Could we also pause tech developments until fire hazards, collapse hazards, and threats to public health and wildlife habitats are mitigated?
A Michigan boy’s not having a cellphone allowed him to save his schoolbus from crashing.
Canadians for Safe Technology presents Katie Singer’s talk:
“Unexplored Policies for Safer, More Responsible Technologies”
Tuesday, May 23rd, 7:30 pm Eastern. The event is free:
https://zoom.us/j/97250411732?pwd=YU9kZlE5S291anpkOVI3VzVaQ2hGQT09 Meeting ID: 972 5041 1732; Passcode: C4STRR
Or, find your local phone number to connect: https://zoom.us/u/adqLEcepOB Mtg ID: 972 5041 1732; Passcode: 481062