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In July 1997, Enron CEO Ken Lay met with President [[Bill Clinton]] and Vice President [[Al Gore]] in the [[Oval Office]]. Clinton, Lay, and Gore discussed approval of the [[Kyoto protocol]]s on carbon emissions.
In July 1997, Enron CEO Ken Lay met with President [[Bill Clinton]] and Vice President [[Al Gore]] in the [[Oval Office]]. Clinton, Lay, and Gore discussed approval of the [[Kyoto protocol]]s on carbon emissions.
An internal Enron memo says the treaty will, "do more to promote Enron's business than will almost any other regulatory initiative outside of restructuring the energy and natural gas industries in Europe and the United States." Lay told Enron employees Bill Clinton solicited Lay's views "in advance of a climate treaty to be negotiated at an international conference" And Lay said Clinton agreed to support Lay's policy of an emissions-trading system from which Enron plans to profit hugely while American consumers pay steep price increases for electricity and natural gas.
An internal Enron memo says the treaty will, "do more to promote Enron's business than will almost any other regulatory initiative outside of restructuring the energy and natural gas industries in Europe and the United States." Lay told Enron employees Bill Clinton solicited Lay's views "in advance of a climate treaty to be negotiated at an international conference" And Lay said Clinton agreed to support Lay's policy of a carbon emissions trading exchange from which Enron plans to profit hugely while American consumers pay steep price increases for electricity and natural gas.
The Republican Senate rejected the Kyoto treaty by a 95-to-0 vote on August 15, 1997.
The Republican Senate rejected the Kyoto treaty by a 95-to-0 vote on August 15, 1997.
==Cap and trade==
:''Main article:'' [[Cap and trade]]
Even after the U.S. withdrew from the Kyoto protocols, Enron continued to push for a domestic regulatory scheme known as cap-and-trade, whereby the government would set a cap on the total amount of carbon dioxide emissions allowed in the U.S. It would distribute permits or allowances to companies affected by the cap giving them the right to emit a certain amount of carbon dioxide. Those allowances could then be traded a carbon emissions trading exchange.
Enron executives believed that a cap-and-trade program would put them in a position to dominate the U.S. energy market. Electric utilities, required to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, would be forced to switch from coal to natural gas as the only practical alternative to electricity production. As a leading trader of natural gas, Enron would be the recipient of a huge financial windfall.
While [[Barack Obama]] served as a board member for the Chicago-based Joyce Foundation, it gave nearly $1.1 million to start the Chicago Climate Exchange, calling itself, "North America's only cap and trade system for all six greenhouse gases, with global affiliates and projects worldwide."
==Corruption and Demise==
==Corruption and Demise==