Republicans on Carbon

"Santa GOP Candidate" by Rick McKee; from caglecartoons.com

• The title of this work is “Santa GOP Candidate” and it features Santa commenting about an Elephant’s long list of Christmas wishes and the Elephant responding that it is all of the candidates he wants to “drop out of the GOP race.”
• The elephant is the symbol for the republican political party in the US, and the fact that his list is so long is a comment on how unfit each of the republican candidates are to be the next commander in chief of the United States.
• It could also be a comment on how many republican representatives are running for the position, and the elephant’s wishes could be a sign that there is too much to keep up with for citizens who will be voting in the primary elections.

"Climate Deal in Paris"  by Paresh Nath; from caglecartoons.com

• The title of this cartoon is “Climate Deal in Paris” and it is a representation of the steps taken by 19 countries prior to Paris that have had talks on global carbon emissions, with men in suits standing on the “step” of Paris and stating that the steps to discuss carbon emissions and climate began there. The sky is smoggy and the grass is dull.
• The point of this cartoon seems a bit more obvious than others. The men atop the staircase are ignoring the previous “steps,” saying that the talks begin in Paris, though they have been happening since 1995. The men also represent the U.S, China and India, who have not attended the talks before, but produce the most waste.

Suicide and Guns

"Carbon Emissions" by Mike Keefe; from caglecartoons.com

• The title of this work is “Carbon Emissions”, and it features an Earth surrounded by a carbon emissions “suicide belt”
• The Earth in this picture is suffering from man made pollution, which the author is calling the suicide belt. I believe he is trying to express the detrimental nature of dirty energy on the atmosphere of our planet.
• One could say that the artist is calling for greater regulations on factory pollution, but he may also mean that we as a species are all affected by the pollution and that we all should contribute to the cleanup of our earth. In a time of such crises between people, we are all affected if our ozone continues to diminish or if we are unable to find sources of clean energy. Those things will be unimportant.

"Gun Research" by Adam Zyglis; from caglecartoons.com

• The title of the cartoon is “Gun Research,” which features a printed document of government funded gun research with bullet holes in it. I believe the artist is saying that the government refuses to acknowledge the necessity of gun research, and without such research, the argument of guns is null and void.
• With more regulation, criminals will still have guns, but without regulation, irresponsible non-criminals will have murder weapons in their possession. Advocates for gun use may also be the problem being represented in the cartoon. They may have “shot down” all proposals of government funded research for guns to keep their agenda running high without tangible proof of the dangers of guns.