The first 150 years of industrialization saw a strong correlation between output and raw material use. As prosperity grew and humanity produced more stuff, raw materials use grew along with it in a linear fashion. But since the dawn of the information revolution some 50 years ago we’ve seen a decoupling of resource use and pollution from the output of products and services. The main resource needed for software development is the human mind, not raw materials in the ground. In fact, the use of raw materials is going down in many areas because information technology allows us to be more productive and do more with less than ever. Yes, the earth has still a few billion people who desperately want to get to the level of prosperity we have in America, but they will get there using relatively fewer resources as they leapfrog the resource-intensive stages of previous generations.
Think Right or Wrong, Not Left or Right 