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==Kyoto protocols and 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. <ref>https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/transcripts/gopresponse_memo.htm</ref>
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 proposal of a carbon emissions trading exchange from which Enron planned to profit hugely while American consumers paid steep price increases for electricity and natural gas. <ref>Robert Schlesinger, "Enron Ties May Also Tar Democrats; Company Lobbied Clinton, Donated To Top Legislators," The Boston Globe, January 24, 2002</ref>
The Republican Senate rejected the Kyoto treaty by a 95-to-0 vote on August 15, 1997.<ref>http://talking_points.tripod.com/</ref>
==Cap and trade==
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."<ref>[httphttps://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/03/25/obama-years-ago-helped-fund-carbon-program-pushing-congress/ Obama Years Ago Helped Fund Carbon Program He Is Now Pushing Through Congress,] By Ed Barnes, March 25, 2009. FoxNews.com </ref> In 2010, the Chicago Climate Exchange collapsed. <ref>[httphttps://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/11/09/collapse-chicago-climate-exchange-means-strategy-shift-global-warming-curbs/ Collapse of Chicago Climate Exchange Means a Strategy Shift on Global Warming Curbs,] By Ed Barnes, November 09, 2010, FoxNews.com </ref> As many investors were wiped out, its founder sold out before hand for $90 million and [[Al Gore]], who was also associated by name with the company, pocketed $18 million.
==Corruption and Demise==The Enron scandal occurred when Enron, a Blue Chip stock, was revealed to have far more debt than realized. Top officers misled shareholders and some transactions did not appear on the company's financial records using "future value accounting," whereby they were reporting profits based on projected future earnings rather than actual earnings.<ref>httphttps://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aJBMW5XuxQPM&refer=us</ref> The stock dropped from $90 a share to mere pennies. It is considered to be one of the largest bankruptcies in history. ==DOJ Enron Task Force==[[Andrew Weissmann]] prosecuted the Big 5 accounting firm Arthur Andersen LLP. Weissmann argued that Arthur Andersen had covered up for Enron and convinced the judge to instruct the jury that they could convict the firm regardless of whether its employees knew they were violating the law. That ruling was later overturned by the [[Supreme Court]] in a 9-0 ruling, in which the court held that "the jury instructions failed to convey the requisite consciousness of wrongdoing."<ref>{{cite news|last1=Willman|first1=David|title=Mueller deputy Andrew Weissmann has a reputation for hard-charging tactics — and sometimes going too far|url=https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-trump-weissmann-20180216-story.html|accessdate=|publisher=Los Angeles Times|date=19 February 2018}}</ref> 85,000 jobs were destroyed by indicting the whole company and not just its board of directors.<ref>https://dailycaller.com/2017/11/20/meet-the-very-shady-prosecutor-robert-mueller-has-hired-for-the-russia-investigation/</ref> [[Kathryn Ruemmler]] worked with Weissmann on the case.
==Aftermath==
The name of the [[Houston Astros]]' baseball stadium, Enron Stadium, was changed to Minute Maid Field after the incident. Many documentaries, movies and books about the Enron Scandal have been created, one of the most notable is the movie, Fun with Dick and Jane, with a storyline loosely based around the scandal, even mentioning Enron in the credits.
In 2011, [[First Lady]] [[Michelle Obama]] scheduled a fundraising event in the mansion of a former Enron executive and billionaire for [[Presidential Election 2012|President Obama's 2012 re-election]] asking for $10,000 per ticket to the event, or the “co-host level” contribution being $35,800.<ref>[http://www.humanevents.com/2011/10/28/obama-rakes-in-cash-from-lobbyists-enron-executives/ Obama Rakes In Cash From Lobbyists, Enron Executives,] John Hayward, ''Human Events'', 10/28/2011. </ref> In May 2013, Skilling negotiated a deal for his earlier release from prison in exchange for dropping his appeals that have held up the distribution of $40 million to victims of the Enron collapse.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/05/08/enrons-skilling-strikes-deal-for-shorter-sentence/|title=Enron’s Skilling Strikes Deal for Shorter Sentence|first=Michael|last=De la Merced|date=May 8, 2013|accessdate=May 14, 2013|work=New York Times}}</ref> If the judge approves the deal, Skilling may be released in 2017.
==References==
[[Category:Clinton Administration]]
[[Category:corporationsClinton Scandals]][[Category:Corporations]]
