On Being Anxious About Digital Carbon Emissions

This essay examines how many scholars—including myself—are thinking and feeling about growing concerns the climate impacts of digital networks. Whether in news headlines, civil society reports, or peer presentations, we increasingly encounter alarming figures that link streaming video cloud storage practices with a potential carbon time bomb. As result, an eclectic range personal behaviors have blossomed seek to acknowledge respond these harms, including land-energy acknowledgements, low-res aesthetics, conspicuous non-consumption, media arts attempts prefigure greener futures online. These environmental actors may lack clear account relative given gesture, but are nevertheless motivated by strong sense urgency responsibility modify means which they communicate I been both scholar of, participant in, this panoply low-carbon experiments. In tracing my has evolved, provide self-reflexive assessment what might be responding through role anxiety is should guiding such efforts. While remaining sympathetic behavioral shifts, explore emphasis on discrete actions could risk misapprehending material character systems change, overattributing agency users. conclude some evolving criteria for assessing networks, as well reflections hermeneutics infrastructural care provides productive alternative action issue.