Apparently, Obama’s “All of the Above” energy policy involves saving the planet while simultaneously trying to kill it.  Why else would the president allow a multinational oil corporation to drill for oil in one of the most sensitive places in the world?  Most people think of the Arctic as a vast swath of nothingness, but don’t tell that to these guys.

While “All of the Above” is a catchy name for an energy policy, it really just seems arbitrary and nonsensical.  How else do you explain approving drilling in the Arctic when the US government’s own Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (the crew that approved Shell’s Arctic plans) says there is a 75% chance there will be an oil spill resulting from drilling in the Arctic.

Obama has definitely done plenty of good things for the environment, but it is astounding his administration would approve Shell’s Arctic exploration plans, then two weeks later go on a climate change tour of Alaska!  Haven’t there been enough disasters in Shell’s quest to tap into Arctic oil?  Pass along the animation, and be sure to dig into some of the links behind the ‘toon!

It always amazes me that climate deniers can still call global warming a hoax when looking at hotter temperatures, dying forests and increasing wildfires.  Millions of burning acres are a little more obvious to most than calving glaciers or seas rising by centimeters. 

I was a little distracted while creating this cartoon.  My parents’ home in Idaho is so close to one of the Northwest’s raging forest fires that this sort of thing is going on just a stones throw from the house.  I know global warming isn’t all about hot temperatures everywhere, “global weirding” as some people say, but right now the world seems to be on fire.

The fires by my parents’ place or here in California are nothing compared to what has been going on in Alaska.  (All you need to do is check out a recent fire map to get a sense of the scale.)  If you’re a small government type who thinks the global warming hoax is a plot to increase government control and spending, just imagine government representatives kicking you out of your home as a wildfire approaches, all while they spend billions to fight these fires.  Seems like doing something about global warming might not be so expensive after all.  Enjoy the cartoon, stay safe and check out the links behind the ‘toon.

While everyone is distracted by a certain orange presidential candidate, a river turned orange in Colorado.  The Animas River disaster happened when contractors working for the EPA accidentally released a toxic stew from an old abandoned gold mine.  Before we go and dismantle the EPA and eliminate government entirely, let’s take a look at why the deadly mining waste was there in the first place.

Thanks to General Mining Act of 1872, we’ve been giving away our public lands for over 140 years and leaving a legacy of mining waste behind.  Actually, it’s more like we’ve been selling the land at 1872 prices and then giving away precious rocks like gold, silver and uranium.  Compare two to five dollars an acre with the current price of gold, uranium or platinum and you have an idea of the bad deal the people of the United States have been getting for over a century.  No royalties, no environmental provisions, no ability to fund cleanups after inevitable disasters happen, you get the idea.

Sure, someone screwed up and uncorked the Gold King Mine’s river of toxic sludge, but that’s bound to happen when we have over 500,000 abandoned and inactive mines across the country.  Methinks it’s time to change course when a law signed by Ulysses S. Grant still gives away our natural resources to mining corporations, foreign and domestic.  Dig deeper into the links behind this cartoon and you’ll find some stories that will blow your mind.