Ten years ago today, on December 2, 2001, Enron declared bankruptcy. The company is now liquidated, but Enron’s intellectually insolvent “green energy” model is alive and well in the Obama Administration. Cap-and-trade rationing of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and “green jobs” with wind and solar — Enron was there first.
Under its founder and chairman, the late Ken Lay, Enron set out to become the world’s leading renewable energy company. The company entered the solar business with a half stake in Solarex in 1994. And it entered wind manufacturing and project development with the purchase of Zond Corporation in 1997, which was described by the American Wind Energy Association as “a tribute to the foresight of Enron…one of the most aggressive and strategic-minded players in the energy market.”
Enron, the leading market maker in air emissions trading with sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxide (NOx), sought to do the same with the much larger CO2 emissions market. This was why Enron became the first major U.S. energy company to endorse cap-and-trade as climate-change policy.
Enron even became a favorite company of Al Gore, and the admiration was reciprocal. Stated Ken Lay: “In Earth in the Balance, Senator Al Gore stated: ‘Higher taxes on fossil fuels…is one of the logical first steps in changing our policies in a manner consistent with a more responsible approach to the environment.’ I agree.”
Under its founder and chairman, the late Ken Lay, Enron set out to become the world’s leading renewable energy company. The company entered the solar business with a half stake in Solarex in 1994. And it entered wind manufacturing and project development with the purchase of Zond Corporation in 1997, which was described by the American Wind Energy Association as “a tribute to the foresight of Enron…one of the most aggressive and strategic-minded players in the energy market.”
Enron, the leading market maker in air emissions trading with sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxide (NOx), sought to do the same with the much larger CO2 emissions market. This was why Enron became the first major U.S. energy company to endorse cap-and-trade as climate-change policy.
Enron even became a favorite company of Al Gore, and the admiration was reciprocal. Stated Ken Lay: “In Earth in the Balance, Senator Al Gore stated: ‘Higher taxes on fossil fuels…is one of the logical first steps in changing our policies in a manner consistent with a more responsible approach to the environment.’ I agree.”
