Enron and global warming: the uses of enviro-hysteria

Post #36,533 by marlowe 4/25/02 5:49:37 PM Reply	Enron and global warming: the uses of enviro-hysteria [link\|http://www.techcentralstation.com/1051/envirowrapper.jsp?PID=1051-450&CID=1051-042502B\|Where "science" is just a word they use] Excerpt: The Washington Post first reported internal memos revealing that the vocal "global warming" movement and its 1997 Kyoto Protocol were fruit of a stealthy and extensive corporate lobbying campaign. The ringleader? Enron (surprise!). The memos disclosed that "green" groups were courted, funded and even created to spread the gospel that man is killing the planet by burning fossil fuels, a malady Enron offered to mitigate through its natural gas, windmill and solar ventures. Now similar schemes, cloaking issues in green to garner political influence and economic advantage, are arising in the market for fueling America's automobility. In California, which excluded coal from its electricity mix thus leading to its embarrassing, expensive, and dangerous summer of 2001, corporate interests are seeking to exploit green values to set a heightened, specific requirement for a particular gasoline additive, notwithstanding its well-documented environmental (and economic) downsides. [link\|http://www.angelfire.com/ca3/marlowe/index.html\|http://www.angelfir...e/index.html] Truth is that which is the case. Accept no substitutes. If competence is considered "hubris" then may I and my country always be as "arrogant" as we can possibly manage.
Post #36,534 by Simon_Jester 4/25/02 6:06:32 PM Reply	You might want to take another look at California... In California, which excluded coal from its electricity mix thus leading to its embarrassing, expensive, and dangerous summer of 2001, corporate interests are seeking to exploit green values to set a heightened, specific requirement for a particular gasoline additive, notwithstanding its well-documented environmental (and economic) downsides. The assumptions that California was behind it's own Energy Crisis (by refusing to build plants) has frankly failed in the last 6 months. With price caps in place, there's (last I checked) no shortages of electricity to be found. (And frankly, the few plants that California could get run and running in 1 year's worth of time don't equal to the lapses of energy it was running into, imho.) In fact, it can (and has) been argued that California single-handedly put Enron out of business. Enron was the lead distributor of electricity to California (in terms of mega-watts rather than number of contracts) and when the prices went sky-high, not a single long term contract went to Enron. (Now, what really scares me...those out there chuckling at Califoria's expense... is how close it came to Florida. Enron was moving into the potable water market and moving hard to get Florida to deregulate it's water treatment facilities.)
Post #36,539 by Ashton 4/25/02 8:09:22 PM Reply	Don't forget the number done on India - re water, too..
Post #36,556 by JayMehaffey 4/25/02 11:42:15 PM Reply	Biased but not entirely invalid Tech Central Station is supported by sponsoring corporations that share our faith in technology and its ability to improve modern life. Smart application of technology ? combined with pro free market, science-based public policy ? has the ability to help us solve many of the world?s problems, and so we are grateful to ExxonMobil, AT&T, Microsoft, and General Motors Corporation for their support. An organization funded by ExxonMobil publishes an article that tries to smear the green movement as being a front for Enron because they where funded by Enron. Do you see a problem here? This doesn't prevent the complaint about Ethanol from being valid of course. Ethanol is grossly overhyped by companies that stand to profit from it, and has never actually been shown to have any real environmental benifits. But the first part leaves a sour taste in my mouth. And the lack of any link to the Washington Post article that it refers to makes me suspicious. Jay

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