Resource Intensive Tech
Some categories of technology, such as electronics, require resources that are difficult to acquire without
harming the environment. For example, the advanced batteries in hybrid cars are composed of nickel and
rare-earth metals. Mining these materials is a significant source of harmful emissions, including solvent vapors,
sulfuric acid and coal dust. Acid-laden water discharges kill all plant and animal life around nearby waterways
and have sickened and killed nearby rural residents. This mining largely takes place in China, which has
admitted that it sells the rare-earths cheaply because it sacrifices environmental safety standards in the mining
process. Similar batteries exist in personal consumer electronics, hard drives, fuel cells, wind turbines,
polishing powders and catalytic converters.
Claim
(Does the benefit of technology outway the
environmental risks?)
Evidence
(Cite evidence from the previous slide-2
pieces of evidence)
Reasoning
(Explain how that evidence supports the
claim)
4.
