Generation and Environmental Issues

"The Wandering Earth" could be an interesting complement to the current events assignment that my students work on. I ask students to read and report on articles from the news every week in various categories. I would be interested in seeing what parallels they could draw between the themes of the book and the things that are happening in our society today. For example, we go in depth on pollution and climate change, and the idea of using the earth's resources as fuel for the enginges in the novella could spark an interesting debate - are there instances in which our environmentally-damaging actions are justified? Do humans have the right to exploit nature for purposes of self-preservation? I could see my students arguing on both sides of that debate. We also talk about smog, living in Los Angeles, and I am interested in checking out the documentary "Under the Dome" Professor Bernards recommended. To relate back to the title of the course, environmental issues have kind of become a generational issue. We have students organizing huge protests against government inaction and the harmful practices of big businesses, young people filing lawsuits on the basis that their future is in jeopardy because of the actions of those currently in power, and children advocating for change all over the world. This is definitely due in part to increased knoweldge of climate change and better education in recent years, but it is also about who will be most affected by climate change. Young people will see serious consequences of climate change in their lifetimes, while older policymakers may be less motivated to enact change because they will not see those consequences. It is interesting to see how this issue, which is by definition global, has emphasized division between generations in some cases.