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The tropes of a Silicon Valley icon’s backstory glitter throughout Jim Fruchterman’s biography. The founder of the non-profit technology companies Benetech and Tech Matters began his career by...
I am a mechanical/aerospace engineer who switched career tracks to green buildings and renewable energy over 20 years ago, compelled by the existential threat of climate change and ecocide.
From that perspective I want to suggest that any engineer who cares about sustainability seek out training in ecology and in systems thinking.
These topics are not widely taught in the US, and are only rarely taught to engineers. But ecological literacy is essential in order to understand what is necessary to build a technological future that doesn’t undermine the basis of its own prosperity.
For engineers, one of the best ways to access these topics is through permaculture. Though originally developed for drylands agriculture, permaculture is at root a philosophy and a set of tools for designing regenerative systems – and these tools can be applied to nearly any context.
This piece says nothing substantive about what it takes to mitigate risks associated with the unsustainability of our political-economic system and way of life. It’s just thinly veiled “diversity-equity-inclusion” pablum. And the photo chosen to head the article borders on criminal irresponsibility and wrong-headedness. The idea that we’re destined for some Jetsons future where robots/AI do all of our farming and manual work is dangerously misleading. Calling a high tech farming robot “sustainable” is a sick joke. Tell that to the children forced to work in the coltan mines in the Congo. Tell that to villagers who’ve had their livelihoods destroyed, their land confiscated, and the ecosystems poisoned to mine lithium for batteries. Tell that to the people living in toxic waste dumps where electronics are mass manufactured, and where junked electronics are disassembled for “recycling” in toxic hellscape e-waste dumps in Ghana, China, and South Asia.
The engineering profession is completely lost, worshipping the sac-religion of infinite technological progress. Pray for us, brothers and sisters!
Thank you for always highlighting the need for professionals and organizations to take significant effort in the practice of intergenerational ethics. It’s evident that technology has done us so much good, but at the same time there is need for conservation, careful consideration of social and environmental impact of whatever we are bringing to the table, during the idea creation to product development etc.
I’m a mechanical engineer that moved to the field of green buildings last year because I want to contribute to a sustainable future. This article inspires me to strive toward sustainability, and I find it fascinating.