A split-panel cartoon published August 4, 2015, shows identical coal power plants side by side. The left panel features a question box asking what President Obama's alternative to coal is. The right panel supplies the answer nuclear while a large bomb labeled Clean Power Plan dangles above the facility.

The Clean Power Plan was the Environmental Protection Agency's rule aimed at reducing carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants. Finalized in early August 2015, the regulation set state-specific targets and encouraged shifts away from coal toward lower-emitting sources. Industry groups and coal-state officials immediately challenged the plan in court.

The cartoon uses the bomb imagery to argue that the policy functions as an abrupt threat to coal generation rather than a measured transition. The nuclear label adds a layer of irony by suggesting the administration's preferred path carries its own risks. The visual appeared in The Columbus Dispatch and was distributed through Cagle Cartoons.

At the time, coal supplied roughly 40 percent of U.S. electricity, though its share was already declining due to market forces and earlier regulations. The cartoon captures the sharp divide between supporters who viewed the plan as essential climate action and opponents who saw it as regulatory overreach that would raise costs and eliminate jobs.