Climate Change and Sustainability

  Sustainability is a widely discussed solution to combat climate change in the modern world. As a result, it has become a guiding principle in many aspects of our lives. Specific changes have been implemented in order to combat climate change with sustainability such as shopping with reusable bags, developing hybrid cars, opting for clean power alternatives, etc. These changes are made with the intention of offsetting our carbon footprint, reducing pollution, and lowering the use of our natural and nonrenewable resources. Additionally, “reducing carbon emissions is one of the most effective and necessary climate-related actions” as CO2 in the atmosphere has been proven to be a large contributor to global climate change. 

Furthermore, the issue of climate change has sparked many car manufacturing companies to rethink their designs in order to participate in sustainability development. More specifically, within the last few years, a shift from combustion engines to electric engines in cars has occurred. Batteries within these electric engines can be charged quickly and cheaply. Thus, as many people, especially Americans, value convenience these features are proven to be valuable allowing for a rise in the electric vehicle industry. As gas and oil prices have increased within the past year, battery-powered cars have received a lot of attention from the public eye, as well. As a result, the industry continues to grow and be a positive force in combatting climate change.
 While I remain optimistic about the positive effects that electric cars have on providing a sustainable solution for climate change, there are certain aspects of the industry shift that leave me questioning its development. The car industry is shifting from the use of natural gases and oil to the use of batteries. While the use of batteries reduces the carbon emissions of vehicles, I am left wondering how we will be disposing of all the batteries that are being made for these cars once they need to be replaced? Additionally, “[i]f [a battery] ends up in a landfill, its cells can release problematic toxins, including heavy metal… it can short-circuit, combust, and release toxic fumes.” Moreover, old batteries are extremely hard to reprocess, and thus impose a great danger to the environment. While such problems do not add to the effects of climate change, they do create an additional environmental hazard in the world we are trying to save. 

However, I believe that this cycle is inevitable and will arise with each new sustainable development attempt. Modern advancement has demonstrated that there is always positive and negative effects from development. While it is not yet possible to prove this theory, I theorize that once electric cars dominate or even make up the entire industry, society will start to turn away from a battery-powered design due to the negative effects that dead batteries pose on the environment. Thus, history will repeat itself and a new advancement in powering vehicles will occur as a society will turn to an alternative and cleaner power source. All in all, new technologies are constantly being researched and developed to create a more advanced and cleaner world. As a result, there is no doubt in my mind that batteries will become obsolete in the future since the push for sustainability will undoubtedly continue so that human life is sustained on Earth, as well.


Michella Chiaramonte

“WMO: Climate Change Threatens Sustainable Development.” World Meteorological Organization, 22 Sept. 2021, https://public.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/wmo-climate-change-threatens-sustainable-development. 

“Millions of Electric Cars Are Coming. What Happens to All the Dead Batteries?” Science, https://www.science.org/content/article/millions-electric-cars-are-coming-what-happens-all-dead-batteries. 

Kley, F., Lerch, C., & Dallinger, D. (2011). New business models for electric cars—A holistic approach. Energy policy, 39(6), 3392-3403. 

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