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Auchter's Art: This future sucks

Michigan Public | By John Auchter
Published May 22, 2026 at 7:00 AM EDT
Panel 1: A person in a striped shirt and bell-bottom pants is startled by a glowing time-travel effect. An older, balding version of themselves arrives and says, "I'm you! I've come from the past for a glimpse of the future." The startled person shouts, "Who… who are you?!" Panel 2: The younger person grabs the older one by the collar and urgently asks, "Quick! Tell me the wonders of this new era — is energy cheap and clean as promised?" The older person responds sheepishly, "Well, not really…" Panel 3: Against a dark, shadowy background, the older figure explains: "The federal government is forcing us to keep burning rocks at expensive coal plants, we're pouring money into rebooting derelict nuclear reactors, and we're still pumping oil sludge through our most precious fresh water resources." Panel 4: The younger person, dejected, says, "Geez… this future sucks!" The older person replies, "Tell me about it!"
John Auchter
/
For Michigan Public
My younger self would be disappointed. It's not like I really expected flying cars by this point, but cleaner, cheaper energy did seem like an achievable goal.

Recent Michigan news headlines:

So here we are in 2026, and our discussion about energy seem to revolve mostly around technologies and solutions from previous centuries. Worse, technologies and solutions that actually have arrived (solar, wind, geothermal, etc.) are still put by many in the "not quite ready" category.

My younger self would be disappointed. It's not like I really expected flying cars by this point, but cleaner, cheaper energy did seem like an achievable goal.

Editor's note: John Auchter is a freelance political cartoonist. His views are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Michigan Public, its management, or its license holder, the University of Michigan.
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Opinion john auchterAuchter's Artcoal fired power plantnuclear energyLine 5Michigan's energy needs
John Auchter
Since 1995 John has created Michigan-based editorial cartoons for the Grand Rapids Business Journal, the Grand Rapids Press, and MLive Newspapers. His cartoons are currently featured at MichiganPublic.org and are syndicated to newspapers through the Michigan Press Association. John is an active member of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists. You can view an archive of his editorial work and other cartoons at Auchtoon.com.
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