James T Kirk is in my opinion one of the most iconic characters of a generation. Who doesn't know Captain (later Admiral) Kirk? The answer, one would expect, is very few people indeed. The popularity of the character allows William Shatner a pretty good platform to share his views with others, when he speaks people listen and it seems like at the moment Shatner is concerned about the future of humanity itself, so we should probably listen up.

Kirk is no stranger to saving Earth he's done it on numerous occasions, now the man that is most famous for portraying him might be trying to do the same thing.

"There was all kinds of interest in flying vehicles and health and the state of the world among science fiction writers 50 years ago" Shatner said during his interview with The Washington Post. "That we wouldn't be melting away, into the sixth extinction. It would be a much more pleasant. Peaceful. Humane world. Than it is."

It turns out the technologies Shatner is most concerned about are "the old technologies," the tools we are using to destroy our environment. "The technology of uses of energy and the spilling of toxins into Mother Earth, and we're killing our Earth and nobody is irate about it enough. And not enough people are irate about it. People like yourself — young people like yourself should be screaming at the top of your lungs to the people who lead."

It's hard to deny the man has a point and you wonder if, as within the Star Trek universe, it will take a major tragedy to force humanity to sort itself out. Hopefully it won't take World War III to inspire humanity to find a better way to solve it's problems. Whilst Kirk is famous for commanding a starship against any number of adversaries the threat of climate change might just be one battle too far even for the legendary Kirk.

Will Shatner's rallying cry achieve anything? Sadly probably not but perhaps we should, after all his alter ego did kill God just because he wanted to borrow his starship.

What do you think, is humanity it's own greatest adversary more dangerous than Klingons or the Borg? What will it take for humanity to reach Roddenberry's vision or is it just a pipe dream?