Defining Terms for Climate Literacy

<div> </div><div>To move forward with substantial, constructive actions that reduce overall consumption and emissions, the public, scientists and policymakers need agreement about our terms. Terms like "sustainability," "zero-emissions" and "carbon-neutrality" tend to focus on a device or vehicle's energy use and emissions during operation--and to exclude energy use and emission during extraction, smelting, manufacturing and recycling or discard. What do such exclusions mean for e-vehicles, smartphones and solar panels? How can we encourage learning about and reducing electronics' true costs? Katie Singer will describe the process involved in manufacturing electronic-grade silicon (similar to solar-grade silicon), and propose that every Internet user learn the international supply chain of one substance (of 1000+) in their device. She will also propose ways to counterbalance a digital footprint. </div>