Technology and the Environment

I have always wanted to be able to build a foundation or an organization to further a cause that I passionately believe in.  At the back of my head, I have always thought that after I graduate, one aspect of my life would be dedicated to this cause.   And for the longest time, I have always thought that my life cause would have to have something to do with education.  It has been my idealistic and sheltered opinion that good education is the panacea to all our problems.  But lately, the issue on our degrading environment has caught my attention.  It started with Al Gore’s documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth.”  Then I got seated in one of my classes beside an evening student who is affiliated with Bantay Kalikasan.  And now there’s even Richard Gutierrez making environmental documentaries and planting trees with his celebrity friends.  The issue cannot be any more pronounced.  And I’m getting more convinced that I should take my part in helping to save the environment.

That having said and taking up this course now, it made me wonder on the role that technology can play to save our environment.  It has already been said many times that the Internet has changed everything.  But still, the revolutionary potential of information technology in helping environment is still yet to be fully explored.

In the past however, technology has taken the antagonistic role in the issue.  The development in technology has been blamed for the accelerated degradation of our environment.  Technology has been held as the culprit for pollution and other harmful emissions.  Arguably however, it is about time to do away with this belief.  It is about time to use this very same technology to create efficiency and minimize harm to the environment.  One of the more obvious roles of technology now is information dissemination.  Since the dot.com boom has made the world a smaller place, this can be utilized to spread and integrate environmental goals and policies.  Also, technology can be used to make data manageable, make it easier to spot environmental problems and assess their scope and seriousness.  It may also help in coming up with response strategies to these environmental dilemmas.

Indeed, technological advances and information-driven innovation present challenges as well as opportunities. Productivity advances and economic growth from digital technologies may fuel more consumption, resulting in more pollution.  But the same technology can also be utilized to solve the problems we face now.  To explore the technological promise on this aspect would be a rich field to explore.