Two Elephants in the Room (Cartoon)

Cartoon: Two Elephants in the Room (hungeski, created at Funny Times cartoon playground)
(Created on the Funny Times Cartoon Playground.)

Grand Oil Party: What the G.O.P. stands for in the modern Republican Party. From Ronald Reagan to those that control today’s Congress and the majority of state houses, the Grand Oil Party. has habitually acted to protect and boost the fossil fuel industry and its profits — and to slow the spread of wind and solar energy.

Elephant in the Room: An obvious, but ignored problem. Pope Francis, in his recent encyclical “On Care for Our Common Home,” points out some reasons for this:

Obstructionist attitudes … can range from denial of the problem to indifference, nonchalant resignation or blind confidence in technical solutions.

I would fall into the “nonchalant resignation” category. I’m reluctant to bring up an unpleasant topic that might lead to yelling or bumming someone out, when it might not do much good anyway. Still, I think it important that we Earth-dwellers all know — and know that we all know — the facts of our situation. Pope Francis continues:

We require a new and universal solidarity. As the bishops of Southern Africa have stated: “Everyone’s talents and involvement are needed to redress the damage caused by human abuse of God’s creation”. [22] All of us can cooperate as instruments of God for the care of creation, each according to his or her own culture, experience, involvements and talents.

The Second Elephant: The elephant is the apt emblem of the Grand Oil Party. It is the second elephant in the room, blocking action on, or even sight of, the first elephant — that of global warming.

The Facts of Our Situation:

  • The earth is warming due to stronger greenhouse effect.
  • The dominant cause of stronger greenhouse effect is human activity, mainly the burning of fossil fuels.
  • The warmer earth is causing ill effects, such as extreme weather events and melting glaciers.
  • Further warming will most likely cause further and worse ill effects.
  • The faster we stop burning fossil fuels — and switch to clean energy — the more we can limit the further ill effects.

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Cartoon by hungeski created on the Funny Times Cartoon Playground.

Sources

G.O.P. stands for “How the ‘Grand Oil Party’ Got Its Name” – Quinn Hungeski, The Paragraph; 2006-08-16

From Ronald Reagan “Time and Global Warming March On, People Stir, ‘Grand Oil Party’ Must Go” – Quinn Hungeski, The Paragraph; 2015-06-17

fossil fuel industry “Old Law Could Stop Corporate Dinosaurs” – Quinn Hungeski, The Paragraph; 2010-01-24

recent encyclical “ENCYCLICAL LETTER
LAUDATO SI’ OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS ON CARE FOR OUR COMMON HOME” – Pope Francis; Libreria Editrice Vaticana; 2015-06-18

blocking action on “Stupidity of US congress now an impediment to global climate treaty” by VL Baker; Daily Kos; 2015-06-03

even sight of “Republicans seek to push climate change off national security agenda” by Andrew Freedman; Mashable; 2015-03-17

facts of our situation IPCC, 2013: Summary for Policymakers

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By Quinn Hungeski, TheParagraph.com, Copyright (CC BY-ND) 2015

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