The Lorax deals with issues involving pollution, big industry, mass production, how greedy people can be and of course the manufacturing industry deforestation. An important idea underlying this story is environmentalism and conservationism. The Lorax depicts the gravity of protecting and preserving natural resources. It represents the dangers of what happens when we look the other way when it comes to the corruption of our environment. The danger of what happens to our earth, the air we breathe and the effects on surrounding creatures. Smog and pollution turn clouds to a darker shade of gray. Birds migrate because they cannot fly and breathe in such horrible weather conditions. The grass isn't greener on the other side of anything. The fish leave or are left to die. This book also shows the danger of mass production, that if we produce too much of one thing, such as a “Thneed,” we will eventually exhaust our natural resources. Resources that take decades to return to their original population, if at all. In this book he tries to teach children to be someone's voice when they forget to speak, to defend the defenseless. This gives children the idea that it is okay to scream when it comes to saving something so precious. It gives them the power to oppose the “greater”.”