Trump’s Border Wall Will Be Awful for the Environment

It will create millions of tons of carbon dioxide and cause ecological damage—but on the bright side, it may raise gas prices.

Projected wall

We’ve already shown that the wall could cost as much as $40 billion to build.  But the materials required to build it would take their toll on the environment.  A 1,000-mile  that's 50 feet tall with 15 feet underground and one-foot thick would require 9.7 million cubic meters of concrete and 2.3 billion kilograms of steel.

According to According to figures from the Institute for Sustainable Energy and the Environment at University of Bath, there are about 380 kilograms of carbon dioxide emissions for every cubic meter of concrete poured.  So the wall’s concrete could produce up to 3.7 million tons of CO2.  (Some of that will actually be absorbed by the concrete over time, but only slowly.)

Then, depending on the quantity of recycled metal within it, there are around 1.8 kilograms of carbon dioxide emissions embodied within a kilogram of steel.  That means the steel would contribute a further 4.1 million metric tons of CO2.

All told, the wall will tally 7.8 million metric tons of carbon dioxide.

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