I'm about to go geeky pretty hard here, so be warned. There's actual news just below this and more on the way, so just scroll if you get overwhelmed. But, in the spirit of fun and extreme nerdiness, I've just completed an analysis of Star Trek episodes in search of environmental themes.
Actually, I can't say that I completed an analysis, 'cause, really, I know the plots of Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes pretty well. Mostly I just thought about it for a while.
The Star Trek future is largely an environmentally neutral one. Science and technology have allowed us to solve a great number of environmental problems, and the moral scope of our species has begun to encompass all life, not just human life. It's a wonderful world where climate change isn't a problem, we have no need for fossil fuels and population pressures no longer affect planets.
But even in the Utopian future of Star Trek, environmental problems do arise.
More after the Jump
Sometimes, environmental problems haunt us from our past. Remember the plot of Star Trek IV, The Voyage Home? That's right, the future of the Earth depends on the existence of humpback whales and, darnit, they went extinct in the 21st century. Star Trek can solve this problem in a sinch, just go back in time to 20th century Earth and drop the enterprise down in front of a whaling vessel, beam the humpbacks aboard and then return to the 27th century. Voila! The problem of extinction is solved.
Sometimes the problem is with other races, for example in “Final Mission,” an abandoned garbage barge carrying radioactive waste finds its way into the orbit of Gamilon Five. No one wants to deal with the waste in an example that is clearly reminiscent of today's unclaimed garbage barges. But now an entire planet is being poisoned by the radioactive waste. But for the Enterprise, it's a simple fix, tow the barge into a nearby star!
But the problems become more complex and serious when the humans of the future themselves are responsible. In “Home Soil,” for example the Enterprise discovers that some human scientists, while mining and terraforming a seemingly barren planet, have in fact been killing silicon life-forms. The little crystal beings call them humans “ugly bags of mostly water,” and fight back, but in the end with a little arm-flexing from Picard, war is averted and the planet is left to the silicon life-forms.
The only true environmental crisis of the Star Trek universe didn't hit for another five years. In “Forces of Nature” aliens begin to disable warp-drive ships nearby their planet without apparent provocation. They claim that the combined effects of warp travel over the same area of space over prolonged periods can result in a weakening of space-time and that the effect is beginning to negatively affect their planet.
At first the Federation calls them insane terrorists and won't look at their data. They say that more research needs to be done and that the aliens are fundamentalist fools. In the end, one of the aliens sacrifices herself to prove that their theories are correct and the Star Fleet is forced to agree that warp drives can harm space-time and might negatively affect planets.
The Federation soon puts restrictions on warp travel and throughout the rest of the series on Star Ship is seen traveling above warp five unless it is an emergency. 
But, true to Star Trek form, a new class of warp engines (variable geometry engines) such as the ones on the USS Voyager make the speed restrictions unnecessary. And yes, I realize I just got very very geeky.
There are a lot of people in the world who've spent more than 100 hours watching Star Trek and I'm one of them. What we learned is that minds should be open and solutions are attainable. And that a better world is never too far away.
</nerdrant>
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written by a guest, August 20, 2006
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written by a guest, August 23, 2006
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written by a guest, August 24, 2006
Not even the vegetables are real.
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written by a guest, August 26, 2006
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written by celia, March 02, 2007
It's one more thing humanity, I think, should strive to be. Eco-Sensitive.
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written by Larkspur, August 12, 2007
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written by Dr. Ellen, September 29, 2007
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written by Detective Dick, February 16, 2009
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written by Chris, April 21, 2009
Teleporters: Scientists of today (many of which are avid ST fans) are working on how this might work. They've actually managed to transport single atoms across short spans of space.
Warp technology: There are several real laboratories dedicated to the efforts of studying the effectiveness and possibility of matter/antimatter energy.
Phasers: They look a lot like stun guns, don't they?
Communicators: Cellular phones just keep getting smaller and smaller.
Also, while they may not be household items, there are devices so similar to universal translators and cloaking devices that there's no point denying where the idea came from.
Ask the man who runs SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence...a department of NASA) how he came up with the idea. Ask the inventor of the microchip what it was that brought him to computer technology. Ask the man who created Motorola (yeah, the phone company) what gave him the idea to create the very first cordless phone. Each of them will tell you that they're Star Trek fans, and that in some way or another, it was Star Trek that inspired them to invent the science you use on an everyday basis.
Don't believe it? During the taping of the original series there were people who's jobs included opening the doors. I'm not saying the actors were lazy or spoiled. What I'm talking about is all those sliding doors on the show that opened and closed in perfect time with a convenient sounding chirp. The stage crew stood behind them and pulled a lever to open the slats of wood and cardboard...because when Star Trek first appeared on television, automatic sliding doors didn't exist. I don't know if the 'inventor' of the real life version was a Star Trek fan or not, but I know where he got the idea.
I know that holographs were not originally thought of by the creator or the first one, but an inspiration brought on by the imagination of science fiction... whether it was Star Trek or some other show, movie, or novel.
I know that while we may not be capable of warp technology, the only reason a matter/antimatter reactors won't work, is that right now it's simple too cost and space inefficient. Thirty years ago a home computer was cost and space inefficient.
One of the greatest things about Star Trek, in my mind, has nothing to do with eco-friendly politics.
It's that Star Trek creates a world in which you're not only allowed, but are encouraged, to take a small piece of information or knowledge...and let your imagination run amok. A world where people do not ask "is it possible?" but rather "how do we make it possible?"
Not only does Star Trek instill the idea that anything is technologically and scientifically possible, but also the thought that we are, as a whole, capable of innumerable possibilities. Possibilities that may be scientific, but could also include society, philosophy, literature...and the list goes on. Because in the world of Star Trek, there are no limits. The only thing holding us back is ourselves.
Star Trek is a show that gives us the ideal: if we try, if we work, if we study, if we rid ourselves of bias, of prejudice, of judgement, if we endeavor to better ourselves...it is possible that one day we could live in a time where...
"there will be no hunger, and all the children will know how to read."--Gene Roddenberry
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