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Thoughts On Being Certain

May 19, 2015
by Caroline Miller
alternative energy, Axis of Isis, G.W. Bush's mistakes in the Middle East, Michael Kingsley, oil and the environment, oil corporations, the evil of simple thoughts in a complex world
4 Comments

Not long ago a blog reader unsubscribed because he was furious that I would write about investing in oil stocks.  (Blog 3/30/15)  I wrote back saying that I didn’t think a bet on whether or not a company’s fortunes would rise or fall had much affect on the melting of the polar ice caps, and I still don’t, no more than I believe placing a bet at Hialeah affects horse breeding.  There is some remote connection, of course.  If a company’s stock increases in value, that company can sell some of its asserts to increase dividends for shareholders, engage in research and development to make oil drilling safer, buy an existing business or, worst case scenario, drill another well.  But largely those corporate decisions don’t depend on the price of the stock; they depend  corporate profits.

I admit, until the Bush/Gore presidential election and the case of the hanging chads, I’d always been a Republican.  Lest we forget, Abraham Lincoln was a Republican and so was Dwight Eisenhower, who first warned about the military/industrial complex.  Simply put, in my lexicon, commerce and the environment can co-exist, and I’m dismayed when I encounter the uncompromising righteousness of those who equate “corporations” with “evil.”

 What, I wonder, would my former reader do if,  on a specific day, all the oil spigots in the world were turned off.  Would he step forward and take credit for the economic collapse?  Chanting “alternative energy” may make the heart swell but reasonable expectations are worth considering.  We haven’t enough alternatives to eliminate fossil fuels in the immediate future.  

 For the record, oil companies are investing in alternative fuel research.  They realize oil is a finite resource.  They’ve read the science, noted the public’s mood about climate change and they are racing to get ahead of the curve, if only to remain in business.  Sometimes public interests and private ones coincide.  

 In a world  too complicated for single mindedness, Michael Kingsley reminds us what happens when a person takes a one-sided view. (“The Axis of Isis.” (Vanity Fair, May 2015, Pgs. 92-95)   George W. Bush took a simplistic approach in the Middle East.  What he achieved was the unleashing of Iran’s influence in the area,  laid the ground work for U. S. fracking to secure our oil supply and paved the way for old tribal hatreds to emerge and morph into Al Qaeda, The Taliban, Isis…  (Ibid pg. 95)

 To be honest, certainty sometimes scares me.

oil gusher

Courtesy of fineartamerica.com

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4 Comments
  1. BIll Whitlatch May 19, 2015 at 10:01 am Reply
    Blind Men and an Elephant. I registered with the Green Party.
    • Caroline Miller May 19, 2015 at 10:28 am Reply
      When left the Republicans, I registered with the Green Party and remain with them to this day. Small party, small world.
  2. maggi white May 19, 2015 at 11:45 am Reply
    I admit to being surprised you were a Republican, until I read you changed parties. I cannot relate to those who (in my view) regard profit over the needs of humanity as it relates to the current Republican party. However, if what you say above is true of the oil industry, it has helped me take a more balanced view. My view is that we are changing the earth's natural balance by digging out all its natural resources and will pay a huge price some day that is unforeseen and unpredictable. I have always felt that everything on earth has a purpose and affects the whole. Very interesting column.
    • Caroline Miller May 19, 2015 at 11:59 am Reply
      Thank you for your comment, Maggi. Unfortunately, I have lived long enough to remember when the Republican Party was a Grand Old Party. But that was some time ago. Today, it attracts set minds with an unwillingness to weigh evidence. Too many insist the world is 6,000 years old. They never wonder where all the oil came from.

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Contact Caroline at

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Portland, Oregon author Caroline Miller had distinguished careers as an educator, union president, elected official and artist/advocate.

Her play, Woman on the Scarlet Beast, was performed at the Post5 Theatre, Portland, OR, January/February 2015

Caroline published a serialized novelette, Marie Eau-Claire, on the website, The Colored Lens.  She also published the story Gustav Pavel,  a parable about ordinary lives, choice and alternate potential, on the website Fixional.co.

Caroline has published four novels

  • Ballet Noir
  • Trompe l’Oeil
  • Gothic Spring
  • Heart Land

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