Enron Corp: Political Capitalism in Action
Rob Bradley at Enron
I worked at Enron for sixteen years, almost as long as Ken Lay himself. I joined the company in September 1985 and was part of the mass layoff of December 3, 2001.
In my last seven years at Enron, my title was corporate director, public policy analysis. In this capacity, I worked on natural gas, electricity, and environmental issues, as well as prepared speeches for Enron’s CEO Ken Lay. (I only occasionally worked on speeches for Jeff Skilling–he generally prepared his own presentations.)
In this period, I grew very disenchanted with the corporation’s positions on renewable energy and climate change. Fortunately, I had my own 501(c)(3) nonprofit, the Institute for Energy Research (IER), to allow me an independent voice to speak and write against climate alarmism and corporate welfare. My outside views caused controversy within Enron, and I was not shy about expressing my opposition within Enron either.
The memos below are some examples of my principled opposition to Enron’s rent-seeking activities relating to “sustainable” energy. If Enron had been more free-market-oriented, I believe that the company would be a going concern today.
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Internal Enron Renewable Energy Controversies |
Selected Quotes: |
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Ken Karas to Hap Boyd (7-15-1997):“Rob’t Bradley is still at it! This guy works for Enron?”Ken Karas to Tom White (3-7-1998):“Does Bradley still work for Enron? If so, I believe he should be terminated. This article [“Are the Merits of Windpower Overblown?”] is pure yellow journalism…. ”
Tom White to Ken Lay (3-9-1998): “I am sorry to bother you with a matter that I thought was closed. I am not sure whether this article was written before or after you issued orders [to Bradley to stop], but in any case, it does damage to our wind business and seems to violate our business conduct policy.” Ken Karas to Tom White (6-3-1998):“Our buddy Bradley strikes again! … Bradley has some really clear views on the world that don’t comport with what we are trying to accomplish and seems unable to muzzle himself.” Tom White to Ken Lay (6-8-1998):“Sorry to bother you with this…. Rob is obviously not a fan of renewables or the global warming issue. Unfortunately, he works for a company that is.” Ken Karas to Ken Lay (7-17-1998): “I find it amazing that even in a memo to you he cannot help but take wither ignorant or misleading shots at us. I have seen nothing from him on wind that is objective, unbiased, or balanced.” Note:
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