KEY INDUSTRY, GOVERNMENT & ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERS JOIN EPA CHIEF, HOUSTON MAYOR & AMERICAN GAS ASSN. CHAIRMAN AT ENVIRONMENTAL ROUNDTABLE

KEY INDUSTRY, GOVERNMENT & ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERS JOIN EPA CHIEF, HOUSTON 

    MAYOR & AMERICAN GAS ASSN. CHAIRMAN AT ENVIRONMENTAL ROUNDTABLE
    HOUSTON, May 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Enron Corp. (NYSE: ENE) today hosted an environmental roundtable for industry and government leaders which was attended by Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Bill Reilly, Houston Mayor Bob Lanier, American Gas Association Chairman Mike Baly and a number of key national and local industry and environmental leaders.
    According to Enron Chairman and CEO Kenneth L. Lay, the meeting was prompted by the growing concern about the environment shared by business, government and environmental groups, and the important role that natural gas can play in meeting both the future energy and environmental requirements of this country and the world.
    "This emphasis on global environmental stewardship is evidenced by President Bush's recent decision to attend the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development scheduled for early June in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil," Lay said.  "The President is demonstrating international leadership on the critical issues of worldwide economic development and environmental stewardship and we commend his efforts. We also congratulate the President for carefully considering the economic impact of measures designed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and other greenhouse gases.
    "We were very fortunate to bring such a strong cross section of leaders together here in Houston to discuss these important environmental concerns and natural gas as a very viable solution to these concerns," Lay said.
    "Bill Reilly is known for his outreach to industry, and his willingness to discuss the many attributes of natural gas, its benefits as a fuel in electric power generation and in motor vehicles and the important role it can play in meeting energy and environmental needs not only in Houston but across the country," Lay added.
    "Natural gas is important to our energy future because it's both abundant and versatile," Reilly said.  "But what really excites a conservationist like me is the relative environmental cleanliness of gas.  If just the planned new coal-fired generating capacity in this country were replaced with natural gas, we'd reduce annual emissions of SO2 by 386,000 tons, NOX by 196,000 tons, and carbon dioxide by 82 million tons.  If just 10 percent of today's automobile travel were fueled by natural gas, we'd see emissions of carbon monoxide decline by 150,000 tons per year, nitrogen oxides by 25,000 tons per year and greenhouse gases -- mostly carbon dioxide -- by 14.3 million tons a year."
    At the meeting, Mayor Lanier also proposed that Houston serve as the model city for emissions trading between stationary and mobile sources on a pollutant-by-pollutant basis.  The program would allow companies who reduced emissions by operating vehicles fueled by clean burning compressed natural gas to earn tradable credits that could be used to offset emissions produced by a stationary source.
    "The natural gas industry is important not only to Houston; it is important to the country," Mayor Lanier said.  "Expanding the use of natural gas in motor vehicles will help us to improve Houston's air quality.  That's why I am eager for Houston to be a model city for the emissions trading program."
    Because pollution reductions from mobile sources are much more cost- effective than many types of emission control equipment for stationary sources, the emissions trading program not only would provide a major boost in the demand for alternative fuels like natural gas but at the same time it would allow cities and states to meet the emission reductions mandated by the Clean Air Act of 1990 in the least cost manner possible.
    Enron Corp., America's leading natural gas company with more than $13 billion in revenues and about $10 billion in assets, operates the nation's largest natural gas transmission system; markets natural gas, natural gas liquids, crude oil and refined products nationally and worldwide; owns 84 percent of Enron Oil & Gas Company, one of the country's largest independent (non-integrated) natural gas exploration and production companies; is one of the largest independent developers and producers of electricity in the United States and the United Kingdom, with extensive experience in combined heat and power installations; and is a leading purchaser and long-term marketer of natural gas.  Enron Corp. is traded under the ticker symbol, "ENE".
    -0-                       5/21/92
    /CONTACT:  Diane Bazelides of Enron, 713-853-6285/
    (ENE) CO:  Enron Corp. ST:  Texas IN:  OIL SU:

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