But when you look at the net effect of the carbon credit market in its nascent form, one finds that, as an idea that shares much with the financial derivatives that destroyed the world’s economy, such a market is as dangerous as a pecker on a pope, spelling doom not only for the economy, but also for the environment that’s supposed to be at heart of the matter in the first place.

From The Christian Science Monitor (h/t The Rural Blog):

An investigation by The Christian Science Monitor and the New England Center for Investigative Reporting has found that individuals and businesses who are feeding a $700 million global market in offsets are often buying vague promises instead of the reductions in greenhouse gases they expect.

They are buying into projects that are never completed, or paying for ones that would have been done anyhow, the investigation found. Their purchases are feeding middlemen and promoters seeking profits from green schemes that range from selling protection for existing trees to the promise of planting new ones that never thrive. In some cases, the offsets have consequences that their purchasers never foresaw, such as erecting windmills that force poor people off their farms.

Carbon offsets are the environmental equivalent of financial derivatives: complex, unregulated, unchecked and – in many cases – not worth their price.

And often, those who get the “green credits” thinking their own carbon emissions have been offset, are fooled. The Vatican was among them.

And nobody — I mean nobody — fools the Vatican. Except Goldman Sachs, maybe. Or the pope.

And a few have already begun to chime in on the controversy. Metro Councilman Jim King, D-10, released the following statement trumpeting his transparency record.

From the King campaign:

“As many in this community are aware, I’ve long had concerns over the level of transparency at City Hall.  While I’m pleased that the mayor is focusing on our accounting system, I’m still convinced the only way to hold government truly accountable and for the people of this community to trust its government is to open the city’s books to the light of day.  As a Metro Councilman, I have worked to improve the levels of transparency by creating the city’s Government Accountability and Oversight Committee and authoring the city’s Transparency Ordinance.  I am the only practicing CPA on the Metro Council and in the race for mayor and if elected, on day one I will implement a system of internal accountable controls that will eliminate the material weaknesses and significant control deficiencies that currently exist in Metro Government’s accounting system.”

Hoping to get an early jab in on what looks to be a bad week for the Abramson administration, Democratic mayoral candidate Tyler Allen is holding a press conference in front of Metro Hall that will address the state auditor’s year-end review of Metro government.

Though the investigation began with the city auditor, the mayor was first made aware of the irregularities in the neighborhoods department earlier this month in a draft report released by State Auditor Crit Luallen’s office.

“Not only does this report highlight some basic management issues that need to be fixed now, it should also remind us what is at stake as many decision affecting our future have been handed over to unelected committees designed to shield our elected officials from responsibility,” Allen said in a statement.

The report’s preliminary findings identified 30 serious problems with the city’s financial reporting practices, however, the full report hasn’t been released yet. Once the hefty 212-page audit hits the public, however, it will reportedly has additional violations and findings that include federal grants used by various departments.

Longtime employees Melissa Mershon, former director of the Department of Neighborhoods, and Carol Butler, a special assistant in the department, submitted their resignations to the mayor last Friday after questions were raised about their roles in producing a book about the history of Louisville’s neighborhoods.

“I sought and accepted the resignation of two people who have devoted decades to public service in this community. Two people who I have called friends for many, many years,” Abramson said during a press conference. “They made mistakes that violated my trust and more importantly they violated the trust of the citizens of this community. I cannot accept such lapses of judgment and violations of the city’s rules.”

During a review of the department’s finances, it was learned that Mershon had approved three pre-payments to Butler Books over the past two and a half years totaling $14,900 for the book. The publishing company was owned by Butler, with her husband, until his death last summer. The city’s personnel policy explicitly prohibits Metro employees from doing business over $25 with the city without competitive bidding.

The information was discovered by city’s Internal Auditor Mike Norman, who began the investigation after receiving a tip that some invoices paid to vendors by the neighborhoods department had been created by the department rather than submitted directly by the companies.

During the investigation Mershon acknowledged she had created invoices for numerous vendors as a matter of practice, including Butler Books, rather than require the companies to submit invoices on their own.

Norman forwarded that information to the police department’s Public Integrity Unit and also shared the information with State Auditor Crit Luallen’s office, which is currently completing a broad financial audit of the city’s finances that is expected to be released later this week.

Abramson was first made aware of the investigation earlier this month in a draft audit finding released by the state auditor’s office.

“It disturbs me, but it doesn’t surprise me. I’ve been saying for years the quality of accounting in all the departments is woefully lacking,” says Metro Councilman Kelly Downard, R-16, adding that these resignations could be the tip of the iceberg. “The financial infrastructure in our city is broke. In fact, it never worked. You get promoted for being there long enough and that’s inappropriate.”

The Courier-Journal reported this past weekend that the state auditor’s office identified more than 30 serious problems with the city’s financial reporting practices, however, that preliminary management letter only outlines half of the audits findings. The final audit reportedly has more egregious violations and findings that include federal grants used by various departments.

In addition to requesting the resignations, the mayor says he will ask the state auditor and internal auditor to complete their reviews of the department and to make recommendations for improvements in financial practices.

Abramson says he will also require directors and business managers to attend additional training sessions on procurement, personnel and ethics rules.

But let’s start with the basics:

The GAO hearing’s intent was to review an investigation conducted by city auditor Mike Norman into the superlegal business relationship between LMAS and the (now “defunct”) Animal Adoption Agency of Middletown. According to the report, Meloche entered into a three-month “trial case” with AAA president Michelle Hensel with the intent of increasing city-wide animal adoption rates — despite neither LMAS nor AAA having the authority to form such a relationship in the first place (only the Mayor’s Office, with theoretical Metro Council approval, can do so).

[Hensel, it should be noted, was present at the hearing, and afterward appeared combative with the aforementioned reporters, whom she accused of spreading lies about her organization's dealings and referred to alleged "break-ins" at her offices ,which will be the subject of future inquiry here at FatLip, FYI]

Norman’s investigation also found that LMAS failed to properly obtain commercial drivers’ licenses for so-called “S.P.O.T.” mobile clinic operators (putting the city at great liable risk), suffers from rampant inventory mismanagement and adoption revenue data inconsistencies, and has generally failed to maintain accurate adoption records even though they’ve got a fancy-sounding computer system, dubbed “Chameleon,” which is apparently more trouble than it’s worth. And all of this despite the beyond-deplorable conditions at current public animal shelters, a fact that Meloche was quick to justify by reminding the committee that a new shelter will be built “In either December or January,” most likely because the current ones are that bad and, thus, the reason for building a new one — Kafkaesque logic at its worst; the more Meloche talked, the more he made my head hurt.

However, when it was revealed that neither LMAS nor AAA could provide records of their partnership because — as Norman’s report insinuates — such documentation might very well have been misplaced or destroyed, shit quickly got weird.

Committee chair Kelly Downard, D-16, and Councilwoman Tina Ward-Pugh, D-9, began questioning Meloche about what this insinuates, but the director deferred to his lawyer, assistant Jefferson County Attorney Matthew Lemme, who spoke for him. ”My recommended answer was at this time to simply inform the committee that an internal review is being conducted,” said Lemme.

“I’m just concerned that that wasn’t what I read [in the report],” responded Ward-Pugh. “Rather, it reads based upon [Norman's] review [that there was] apparent, intentional misplacement and concealment and destruction of public records. I just want to know where that came from.”

“First of all, this committee has asked questions of Dr. Meloche and they’re entitled to an answer, if he can give it,” said Lemme. “He wants to do so. How do I advise a person to answer when the answer is ‘I’m not going to tell you?’ If that were the answer I’m sure you’d have many more questions for Dr. Meloche and for me today. We’ve said as little as we could and as much as we had to answer your question. I agree with you that if there’s an investigation being conducted … it’s a search for truth. It’s a question to be answered.”

Downard then followed up by stating that the auditor’s report already detailed enough inconsistencies and departmental failings that further internal investigations conducted by LMAS would be practically moot in lieu of the report in front of him. “The records, per the audit, didn’t say that we were missing [inventory],” said Downard. “It said [the records] don’t match up.”

“The rest of the answer,” Lemme began, “is that [LMAS] will provide a suppliment to the audit.”

Then came a moment of awkward silence, which was finally broken by Downard’s dissatisfied utterance of “Okay…” When all was said and done, the committee had little in the way of real answers regarding the true nature of Meloche’s dealings with AAA, or what (if any) substantive, corrective steps have actually been implemented by the public agency as a result of Norman’s report.

Ward-Pugh found it “regrettable” that this element of the hearing might look bad, in retrospect, and she’s right. So far, Meloche & Co. have only provided a 7-page (yet highly verbose) “outline” of goals and strategies that currently have no way to be verified — other than, of course, Meloche’s word and a supplimentary report to the report, which is happening (maybe).

And what’s more, the Norman report — and Meloche himself — recognizes that Metro Animal Services profited handsomely from its extracurricular enterprise with AAA, an organization that, to cite two examples: [1] employed city personnel without being able to provide proper documentation for hours’ worked and (illegally) creating a conflict of interest with Metro Government employees, and [2] provided financial information that could not be independently verified by the audit and in so doing, in the words of the report, “lessens the usefulness of [AAA's] bank statements as a source to verify completeness of activity.” This essentially means that the 53-percent of unaccounted-for Metro-owned animals in their care simply vanished, yet there is a $38,395 “loss” that was covered by unidentifiable “other sources.” At the very least, it’s terrible book-keeping.

By now, though, you’re probably well aware that Meloche is being sued for sexual harassment (nothing new there), and that next week the first in a series of civil rights lawsuits will be filed against he and several animal control officers for unconstitutional searches and seizures of pets, courtesy of Louisville’s insane dog ordinances. Dark clouds are gathering on the horizon, for sure, and thus far Meloche has only received a drizzling. The Mayor’s office is also passing the buck, for the moment, to the Kentucky Board of Veterinary Examiners, pending their own opinion on these matters.

After the hearing, I wanted to ask Meloche about these lawsuits. I mean, he could go to jail for some of this, right? Shaking my hand and walking with speed, he smiled and told me “I have no idea what you’re saying,” which sounded just about right.

[This is still the tip of an uglyberg, dear reader, so check up with FatLip next week for new, hideous developments.]

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Defense attorneys for road contractor Leonard Lawson argued during a closed hearing last month to exclude — or at least limit — Lawson’s secretly recorded statements at his bribery and conspiracy trial that begins June 23.

If the recordings are played for a jury, his lawyers asked that statements be deleted in which Lawson says he has been investigated “a million times,” made a mistake when he accepted immunity from prosecution in 1980 and had given money to two past Transportation Cabinet officials.

The tapes consist of a half-dozen conversations Lawson had with former Transportation Cabinet engineer Jim Rummage, whom was working with investigators for the majority of those conversations. They also seem to portray — as prosecuting Assistant U.S. Attorney Ken Taylor argues  — a man (Lawson) who is operating on the falsehoods given to him by the bait-giver (Rummage) and whose comments on those falsehoods are as admissible and regretful as those given by sexual predators IM’ing an undercover police officer.

Again, from the C-J:

Taylor said: “Right now, somewhere in this country a 25-year-old female police detective is on the phone saying, ‘I am a 13-year-old. My parents are out of town. Why don’t you come on over, bring me some toys and some booze and we’ll have a party.’ “

Right.

Lawson’s attorneys seem to be waffling on a lot — claiming he was both truthful and full of lies — yet if the tapes are dismissed it will most likely be a result of Lawson’s paranoid gibberish, which presiding Magistrate Judge James B. Todd politely described in a closed-door hearing with both sides as “pretty crafty.” In other words, the tapes could most likely be so full of confusing, Machevellian bullshit that no jury could sift fact from fiction.

Assuming, of course, the lies don’t have any truth in them — the two former cabinet officials the tapes allege he gave money to deny ever recieving the money — then who knows how far and how deep this pothole will go…?

As chairman of the Senate’s Homeland Security Committee, el droopo haunts the south of our border frequently on very important, very security-related business. Yet given the content of this video, Lieberman’s everything but business: After the click, he can be seen lusting after a woman (not his wife), engaging in random acts of violence, fighting a man who may or may not be Felipe Calderon, and generally acting like a smug asshole.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzqt-ENnmHc[/youtube]

[Reader Survey — Now what hurts more: The fact that it's not true, or the fact that you wanted it to be?]

Naturally, we stand behind the story 100 percent. Bailey is a talented young reporter with a knack for exposing this kind of stuff. I hope people who may be upset that he got a good story don’t start trashing him in City Hall. That’d be unfortunate.

I’m supposed to talk with Norman today about his new claim and why he’s backing off what he originally told us, and I’ll give an update to the story once that’s finished. As well, I’ve spoken with an attorney about the records request denied by the county attorney’s office — again, see Bailey’s story for background on that — and plan to file an appeal today with the Office of the Attorney General.

One more thing: 84-WHAS talk show host Francene spent about 30 minutes on yesterday’s show talking with LEO News Editor Sarah Kelley about the story. Check out her site here.

UPDATE: I spoke with Mike Norman, chief city auditor, about an hour ago. He said he hasn’t told media we “misquoted” him, but that we misunderstood what he was saying. That’s an important distinction, and unfortunately the “misquoted” claim made it into the WAVE story last night.

As far as the substance of the story, Norman claims that if we would’ve been able to see the documents the county attorney is withholding from us, we would’ve better understood that he was trying to say his office and the mayor’s office actually agreed to scuttle the anonymous tip line because of the potential for causing undue harm to those who’d had a complaint taken against them. Ironically enough, such a concern exists because state open records laws are lax on this point and would allow for public access to those records, regardless of the validity of the complaints.

That is, unless someone were to block those records from public view.

Of course, Norman told us — and is quoted in the story, accurately, he said — that the tip line proposal “stopped” in the mayor’s office. Then, Monday, Metro denies us access to the records that are pertinent, in Norman’s explanation, to understanding the full story. That’s a red flag.

LEO Weekly still plans to file an appeal with the AG’s office this afternoon. As well, I stand by the story 100 percent, and I think we were right-on in our reporting and in capturing the proper context. I expect Norman to write a letter to the editor that’ll run in next week’s issue.