The Tech Fix Mirage
Solar Panels Don’t Erase Shopping Carts (This post follows Blog 4: Why We Keep Consuming — Even When the Planet Can’t, where I explored how overconsumption isn’t just systemic — it’s personal. This time, I’m asking: what if the solutions we trust aren’t really solutions at all?) I’ve always wanted to believe in tech as a way out. Electric cars, solar panels, AI-assisted recycling — it all sounds promising. In a world that feels increasingly fragile, these things offer relief. A sense that someone, somewhere, is solving it. But the older I get, the more I feel uneasy. Let’s say we replaced every gas-powered car on the planet with electric ones. That’s 1.45 billion vehicles, overnight. Would we have solved the problem? Or just swapped engines and kept the machine running? In Chile’s Atacama Desert, 65% of available water now goes toward lithium mining. That’s what it takes to power those “clean” cars. One of the driest places on Earth, and we’re draining it to keep driving. That’s ...