Political Cartoon: Fleeing fires and floods

In 1935 a dust storm from midwest farm soil erosion was so bad that it reached Washington, D.C. The dust bowl, as parts of the midwest were called, drove thousands off their land in a migration west that inspired John Steinbeck’s Pulitzer-winning 1939 novel, “The Grapes of Wrath.” More importantly, the dust storm reached D.C. just as the director of the Soil Erosion Service was testifying before Congress for more funds. Congress, looking out their own windows as dust covered the Mall, could finally see the problem. They approved the Director’s requests.

This year, with smoke from the western fires reaching D.C., Congress should start addressing our own environmental problems. It’s in everyone’s best interests. Republicans certainly wouldn’t want fleeing Californians invading their states.

Editorial cartoons from this week include: