Recombinant Records

St Matthew Island

9th February 2011, Filed under Cartoons

St Matthew Island cartoon

What happens when you introduce 29 reindeer to an isolated island of untouched natural resources?

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St Matthew Island. A remote outcrop of the Bering Sea 300km from mainland Alaska.September 1943: The U.S. Coast Guard establishes a LORAN (long-range radio navigation) system on St Matthew Island, staffed by 19 men stationed on the island.August 1944: the Coast Guard releases 29 reindeer onto the island as a backup food source in case of supply disruptions.With the end of World War II the station was decommissioned and the men left the island.The reindeer were left behind.The reindeer found themselves on an island rich in their favourite food, lichen.With abundant resources and no natural predators on the island, the reindeer bred prolifically.Summer 1957: Humans return to St Matthew Island, In just 13 years, the reindeer population had jumped from 29 to 1,350 individuals.The reindeer appear in excellent health, fat from their nutritious diet of lichen.Summer 1963: Researchers return to St Matthew Island to observe the reindeer population (shot of 2x helicopter over island)In six years, the reindeer population has soared from 1,350 individuals to 6,000.The population's huge appetite has eliminated the island's lichen, with the population now subsisting on sedge grass.With increased competition for food from the dense herd, the animals' body weight has dropped since the last visit.Summer 1966: Researchers return to St Matthew Island.They find the island littered with reindeer skeletons.From a population peak of 6,000, only 42 reindeer remain: 41 females and one infertile male.Within mere months of the last visit to the island, the population had crashed by more than 99% during a winter of extreme weather conditions. (large graph of population rise and fall)Without a way to reproduce, the population of reindeer died off completely by the 1980s.The island's untapped natural resources became the reindeer's source of prosperity, and also the seeds of their demise.The island was only so big, the resources only so many.Unable to escape the island, the reindeer had pushed the resources of their home to the limit.How big is our island? 8 x A4 page PDF file (5 MB)

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Green Tax Shift

6th December 2010, Filed under Cartoons

Green Tax Shift cartoon

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8 separate comic book pages (lightbox popup within browser window)
Environmental policy is not a matter of black and white.Our environmental problems are not caused by 'evil' corporations trying to destroy the planet.They are the unintended side-effects of human progress and development.Every product, every service that we produce has a mix of 'good' and 'bad' qualities.Our challenge is to maximise the good and minimise the bad.Economic markets fail when the total costs of an activity are not measured by its price.If the total societal costs are not internalised by the company conducting an activity......these costs are 'externalised' and passed to society to remedy.This is an inefficient way for our world to operate, and it is created unintentionally by our current laws and mindset.Our current approach to taxation is twisted and tangled.So often it discourages the activities that we want more of......and encourages activities that we want less of.Our current system throws a blanket over all businesses operating in the economy,regardless of the burden their activities place on society and the environment.We need a 'green tax shift'...A change from taxes on good activities (employment, investment, goods, services)...towards taxes on bad activities (waste, pollution, bads, disservices)Green taxes work because they do not suppress business activity in general.Rather they specifically target the waste and pollution that would otherwise burden society.Green taxes would be introduced at a rate equal to the roll-back of existing taxes,as the primary aim is not to grab for cash, but to provide incentive for businesses to invest in clean technology and practices.A green tax shift supports business leaders, who would no longer be conflicted about caring for society versus maximising shareholder profits.Following a green tax shift, the tax a business pays would be proportional to the amount of waste generated.Instead of companies profiting from externalising as much waste as possible into the environment, companies would profit from removing as much waste as possible from their processes.Companies would continue their relentless quest for profits......but would create a competitive advantage from leaving a light footprint on the planet while conducting business.Each year, businesses would be rewarded for being more efficient than their rivals......but they would be kept on their toes as governments steadily raise their standards for 'best practice' over time......and gradually expand the scope of taxes to include more and more categories of waste.Over time the green tax shift would rid more and more inefficiencies out of businesses......and profitably lead us to a more sustainable economy...and a cleaner environment.Pollution is not an inevitable by-product of industrial 'progress'......it is an indication of exactly where our designers, inventors and engineers stopped innovating under our current laws and incentives.We are all responsible for inspiring the behaviour of industries in our economy.Our current system forces businesses to be the 'bad guys'.It's time to change the law and let them become the good guys.Rather than wondering how to clean up the mess left by industry......let's turn industry itself into the force that reverses humanity's impact on the planet.Let's begin the green tax shift. 8 x A4 page PDF file (6 MB)

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The Problem

7th June 2010, Filed under Cartoons

The Problem cartoon

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Read some expanded thoughts on ideas contained in the cartoon.

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Blue Water, Green Water

30th January 2010, Filed under Cartoons

Blue Water, Green Water cartoon

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Part of Nature

23rd September 2009, Filed under Cartoons

Part of Nature cartoon

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