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Non-Tech : The ENRON Scandal -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Karen Lawrence who wrote (3761)	3/31/2002 1:29:43 AM
From: Mephisto	Respond to of 5185

103 energy people met with Abraham Southern, Mirant on adviser list Eric Sundquist and Matthew C. Quinn - Staff Friday, March 29, 2002 " No environmentalists were included in the meetings with Abraham." At least 103 industry representatives met with Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham last year while a White House task force was formulating energy policy, a government watchdog group reported Thursday. Among the industry names on the list was Haley Barbour, who lobbies for Atlanta-based Southern Co. Also on the list was Mirant Corp., an Atlanta-based energy company created and spun off by Southern. Sixty-four names were culled from documents released by the Energy Department under court order this week, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. They are in addition to the 39 business executives and lobbyists whom the department previously acknowledged had met with Abraham. Barbour and Mirant appear on the list of 64, as does bankrupt energy trader Enron. Critics have charged that the task force, chaired by Vice President Dick Cheney, was too heavily influenced by the energy industry. Some administration policies came directly from industry memos, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group that obtained a court order to get the documents. No environmentalists were included in the meetings with Abraham. The industry representatives who met with the energy secretary have financial ties to the Bush administration and Republican Party. From 1999 to 2002, the 103 individuals and organizations donated more than $22 million to GOP causes, compared with $7 million to the Democrats, the center reported. Barbour is a former Republican national chairman. He and his wife, Marsha, donated $35,675 to the GOP during the period. It was unclear if he was representing Southern or some other interest when he met with Abraham. He could not be reached Thursday. Mirant gave $89,250 to the Republicans and $50,650 to the Democrats from 1999 to this year. James Peters, spokesman for Mirant, said company staff members took part in task force meetings that were "general in nature." The participants included representatives of other companies, he said. "We feel that dialog about long-term energy needs for the U.S. is important." Southern Co. was not listed, but an e-mail found among thousands of pages of newly released documents showed that one of its lobbyists had pushed to weaken an air-pollution rule, a position the task force adopted. The Natural Resources Defense Council cited that e-mail as an example of what it said was the administration's willingness to relax environmental rules at the behest of energy industry friends. Southern's chief executive on Thursday denied that the company had undue influence in formulating policy. "I wish we had as much influence as people think," Allen Franklin said. Franklin said the task force hardly granted Southern's wish list. The company would have preferred a "stronger endorsement" of coal as an energy source, he said. Southern Co. also opposed the administration's endorsement of a restructuring of the electric utility industry and national electricity transmission grid, Franklin said. He added that it "just seems odd" that it has become a major news story that an energy company such as Southern would be involved in federal energy policy. Southern Co. relies on coal-burning power plants for 72 percent of its electricity, Franklin said, so naturally it's interested in regulations that would affect the operations of those plants. Franklin said the air pollution issue raised in the e-mail is "huge" for Southern and its shareholders. Significant" rate increases for customers of Georgia Power and other Southern Co. utilities could result if the environmental provision is not changed, he said. --- Washington reporter George Edmonson contributed to this article. accessatlanta.com

To: Karen Lawrence who wrote (3761)	3/31/2002 1:31:48 AM
From: Mephisto	Respond to of 5185

"Mr. Abraham did not meet with any representatives of environmental organizations or consumer groups, the documents show. " Message 17260370 "A coalition of nearly 30 environmental groups asked to meet with Mr. Abraham to discuss the energy policy on Feb. 20, 2001. Energy Department officials declined the request, citing Mr. Abraham's "busy schedule," department officials said. But in the days following, Mr. Abraham met with numerous industry representatives, including a top executive of the American Coal Company; the chairman of UtiliCorp United , a power company now known as Aquila Inc.; executives from a half-dozen utility companies; executives from a half-dozen nuclear power corporations and the corporate leaders of ExxonMobil, BP/Amoco, Shell, ChevronTexaco, Anadarko Petroleum and Ashland Inc."

To: Karen Lawrence who wrote (3761)	3/31/2002 1:38:45 AM
From: Mephisto	Respond to of 5185

You quote Washington Times. NOTE the name of the paper's owner: "Blinded by the Right" shows that the same logic applies to non-economic issues. The scandal machine that employed Mr. Brock was, in effect, a special-interest group financed by a handful of wealthy fanatics — men like the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, whose cultlike Unification Church owns The Washington Times, and Richard Mellon Scaife, who bankrolled the scandal-mongering American Spectator and many other right-wing enterprises. It was effective because the typical news consumer didn't realize what was going on." --PAUL KRUGMAN SEE: The Smoke Machine Message 17261825

To: Karen Lawrence who wrote (3761)	3/31/2002 1:48:58 AM
From: Mephisto	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 5185

The truth comes out buffalonews.com 3/29/2002 No wonder they didn't want anyone to know. Despite assurances that President Bush's energy task force had given conservation and production issues equal consideration in producing a national energy policy, revelations this week show the panel sought conservation input only late in the process, and even then only to spray a sheen of respectability on its preordained conclusions. What that means is this: Either the Bush administration lied to the public or it depends on what the meaning of equal is. One way or the other, it seems clear that the panel was more interested in pleasing Bush's pals in the energy industry than in creating a balanced and useful policy for the world's most voracious consumer of energy. The revelations about the energy committee's work were hard to come by. The administration, for reasons that are obvious enough, wanted to keep the information secret. It came out only because a court ordered its release, and while the revelations are disappointing, they are hardly surprising. This is an administration that has disdained even the thought of conservation. Less than a year ago, White House Spokesman Ari Fleischer defended conspicuous consumption as an American birthright. "It should be the goal of policymakers to protect the American way of life," he said. "The American way of life is a blessed one, and we have a bounty of resources in this country." That, no doubt, is why we import more than 60 percent of our oil. Vice President Cheney similarly derided conservation as perhaps "a sign of personal virtue," but insisted the nation cannot "simply conserve or ration our way out of the situation we're in." The shame of it is that Cheney had a point. Even though our reliance on Mideast oil has declined in the past 25 years, the overheated politics of that inflamed region shows only too well that the United States would be wise to become as self-sufficient as it can, given the limits of our reserves and the need to protect certain environmentally sensitive areas from exploitation. Even most conservationists don't believe the country can solve all of its energy problems through conservation. Had it been interested in producing a truly balanced policy, one that gave due deference to conservation, the administration might have had a shot at making a broadly acceptable case for additional exploration in this country. Everybody would have gotten something. As it stands, the administration all but ignored the social and political benefits of conservation, insulting a great swath of the American population and passing up a real chance to make a difference in the country's outlook on energy. Plus, it lied. Too bad. buffalonews.com

To: Karen Lawrence who wrote (3761)	4/1/2002 12:19:46 PM
From: Skywatcher	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 5185

I urge all of the thread to tune in tomorrow night CBS at 9 This is a tragic and disgusting development for the sake of "energy" that is going forward even though the people of Belize DON'T WANT IT.... It's more greed and corruption in the energy biz....only this time Canadian at Belize's expense Watch "Paradise be dammed" After months of investigation, CBC-TV's current affairs program, Disclosure, will air its report on Belize's proposed Chalillo dam on Tuesday, April 2, at 9 p.m. "Paradise be dammed," investigates the Chalillo dam controversy and the Canadian players behind it. To research and film the report, the "Paradise be dammed" team went to Belize's Macal River Valley and met with Belize officials, proponents and critics of the dam. The team also interviewed Fortis CEO Stanley Marshall, AMEC VP David Paterson, CIDA official Robert Derouin, Probe International's Gráinne Ryder, Belize Zoo's Sharon Matola, and Ambrose Tillet, a former executive with Belize Electricity. Thank you ..... and be good and write protests if you will after watching These people are really trying to make a difference and offer lots of information should you wish to know more probeinternational.org CC