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“If there is one thing I have been impressed with over the last decades, it is that when the environmental community defines a number one priority, something happens. Not always something good—but something.”1 Dr. Kenneth L. Lay, Chairman, Enron Corporation, June 1997 (1) Who was the late Ken Lay, the architect and chairman of Enron throughout its 16-year history? All parties to the current legislative debate on a CO2 cap-and-trade bill should know. After all, Lay’s tireless efforts to promote CO2 regulation and enact renewable energy quotas make him a father figure for HR 2354, the Waxman-Markey climate bill, what...

Warming Scandal: The architect of climate fraud steps down, the creator of the infamous "hockey stick" is investigated, and Australia's parliament defeats cap-and-trade. We love the smell of truth in the morning. As the high priests of what Czech President Vaclav Klaus has called a "religion" prepare their pilgrimage to worship the earth goddess Gaia in Copenhagen, complete with humanity being sacrificed, the heresy of climate truth is finally being heard. The gospel of climate change, once expressed with the messianic fervor of an Elmer Gantry by Al Gore, is now expressed with the stammering incoherence of an Elmer Fudd...

...Enron Chairman Kenneth Lay, keen to engineer an encore, saw his opportunity when Bill Clinton and Al Gore were inaugurated as president and vice-president in 1993. To capitalize on Al Gore’s interest in global warming, Enron immediately embarked on a massive lobbying effort to develop a trading system for carbon dioxide, working both the Clinton administration and Congress. Political contributions and Enron-funded analyses flowed freely, all geared to demonstrating a looming global catastrophe if carbon dioxide emissions weren’t curbed. An Enron-funded study that dismissed the notion that calamity could come of global warming, meanwhile, was quietly buried...

As predicted, my Sunday column that praised the Treasury’s takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac incited outrage from many readers. Typical comments? “A horrible deal for Americans.” “A sad day for America.” “Pity the taxpayer.” “Appeasement for China.” “It’s time for a taxpayer revolt.” As for who’s to blame? Anybody and everybody. Congress, Wall Street, Greenspan, Bush, Clinton, Hank Paulson, Freddie’s and Fannie’s CEOs and the Chinese. Of course, there is plenty of blame to go around. But let’s not just point fingers. It is time to take a hard look in the mirror and see where the blame...

Widow's filing answers complaint that seeks assets The widow of former Enron Chairman Ken Lay denies he committed any crimes, according to a filing Friday in the government's civil forfeiture case that is seeking nearly $13 million from his estate, including the upscale condominium they shared. On Nov. 14, U.S. District Judge Ewing Werlein Jr. denied Linda Lay's request to dismiss the case, which was filed after Ken Lay died of heart disease in July 2006. Werlein concluded that the government had made "ample allegations" of criminal activity tied to the cash and property in question and could pursue the...

Al Gore’s campaign against global warming is shifting into high gear. Reporters and commentators follow his every move and bombard the public with notice of his activities and opinions. But while the mainstream media promote his ideas about the state of planet Earth, they are mostly silent about the dramatic impact his economic proposals would have on America. And journalists routinely ignore evidence that he may personally benefit from his programs. Would the romance fizzle if Gore’s followers realized how much their man stands to gain? Earlier this year Gore experienced a notable public relations debacle. The Tennessee Center for...

(4/18/07 - HOUSTON) - The widow of Enron Corp.'s founder Kenneth Lay said that she and not her husband is the owner of nearly $13 million in assets the federal government is trying to seize. The assets are the target of a civil forfeiture action against his estate by the federal government in its efforts to recover $12.7 million it claims were "proceeds of the fraud proven in the criminal case against Lay." Federal prosecutors were forced to file the civil action after Lay's convictions for his role in Enron's collapse were vacated following his death last year. In a...

When I wrote last week about the death of former Enron founder Ken Lay and the judge's decision that made his fraud and perjury convictions disappear, I was totally unprepared for what would follow.

Breaking

<p>Why else would a judge clear his record, columnist asks.</p> <p>I sometimes hear that Elvis Presley isn't really dead, a notion supported by the alleged sightings of "The King" at various shopping malls around the United States.</p> <p>I've heard the same thing about Tupac Shakur, the rap star who died in a hail of gunfire in Las Vegas 10 years ago. No one claims to have seen Tupac at a shopping mall. But the amount of music and the two feature movies released after his reported death make me think he's not really dead either.</p>

HOUSTON -- A federal judge Tuesday vacated the conviction of Enron founder Kenneth Lay who died in July, wiping out a jury's verdict that he committed fraud and conspiracy in the months before his company's collapse. Mr. Lay was convicted of 10 counts of fraud, conspiracy and lying to banks in two separate cases on May 25. Enron's collapse in 2001 wiped out thousands of jobs, more than $60 billion in market value and more than $2 billion in pension plans. Mr. Lay died of heart disease July 5 while vacationing with his wife, Linda, in Aspen, Colo. U.S. District...

Conspiracy theories abound in wake of Enron leader's death. HOUSTON — Mark Twain once said reports of his death were premature. In the case of Enron Corp. founder Kenneth Lay, reports of his death were national news, and there are still people who don't believe it. "Some people will go to any lengths required to escape the joint. Besides, he is not hanging out with Elvis. He's writing songs with Jim Morrison," said a posting to Dilbert creator Scott Adams' blog. Lay died July 5 while vacationing with his wife, Linda, in Aspen, Colo., and did in fact escape his...

Former Enron chairman Kenneth Lay has just died, just over a month after being convicted of fraud, and almost five years after his company's cataclysmic collapse. The common perception of Lay is that he and other Enron leaders brought about the company's fall because, eager to make money, they schemed to bilk investors. The ethical lesson, it is said, is that we must teach (or force) businessmen to curb their selfish, profit-seeking "impulses" before they turn criminal. But all this is wrong. Enron was not brought down by fraud; while the company committed fraud, its fraud was primarily an attempt...

Lawyers likely to argue that entire case has effectively been voided BARRIE MCKENNA WASHINGTON -- Kenneth Lay's sudden death could prove to be an unexpected legal bequest to Jeffrey Skilling, his co-defendant in the landmark Enron Corp. fraud case. Mr. Skilling's legal team will almost certainly invoke Mr. Lay's demise to try to reverse his own fraud and conspiracy conviction or demand a retrial, legal experts said yesterday. That's because Mr. Lay's death Wednesday of an apparent heart attack effectively voids the entire case against the Enron founder, including the guilty verdict. Mr. Skilling, the former Enron chief executive officer...

The purveyors of revisionist political history are back at work this week, inspired by the death of Enron Corp. founder -- and convicted felon -- Kenneth Lay to revive the myth that were it not for Enron and Lay, California wouldn't have experienced its 2001 energy crisis. ... --snip-- Attorney General Bill Lockyer had the good manners to remain silent about Lay's death from heart disease three months before he was to be sentenced for lying to mask the failing company's condition. It was Lockyer who in 2001 told an interviewer that "I would love to personally escort Lay to...

WASHINGTON - President Bush said Thursday he hopes Enron Corp. founder Kenneth Lay's "heart was right with the Lord" when he died before he could be sentenced on fraud and conspiracy charges. Bush called Lay, who was a friend of the Bush family and a large donor to the president's campaign, "a good guy." He said he was shocked to hear both about the Enron scandal and Lay's death this week from a heart attack at age 64. "I was really surprised," Bush said on CNN's "Larry King Live." "You know, my hope is that his heart was right with...

With his death from a massive heart attack on Wednesday, Ken Lay cheated justice. And then some. Not only will the Enron founder not end his days in prison, but according to legal precedent, his entire case will be erased from the records.

...because Ken Lay's case may still have been appealed, Lay's death expunges the conviction from his record. This means that any orders to vacate his wealth are annulled, and his family gets to keep millions of dollars that they likely would have lost had he gone to jail.

It's not nice to speak ill of the dead, but Kenneth Lay's passing elicited little sympathy from average Americans on Wednesday. I spent much of the day trolling Internet message boards and blogs, polling Chronicle readers and talking to legal and other sources, trying to get a sense of how the public feels about Lay's death and how it will affect the legal proceedings against him. Lay was the former chairman and CEO of Enron, a name that became synonymous with corporate greed and wrongdoing, sparking a major reform movement in Congress. Enron also played a lead role ripping off...