I'm trying hard not to be negative, but it's hard. I've always thought we worked in the “cleanest” industry in business. An industry where your word counts. An industry where you care about the product. An industry where you care about your customers.

Maybe I'm spoiled, coming from Georgia Power Co., where our motto was “A Citizen Wherever We Serve.” And guess what? We meant it. Honesty did come first. We even had a legitimate “resolution process” to follow if we felt the company was not on the up and up.

Maybe, even today, most utilities are still honest, but after the recent events exposing utilities that improperly boost revenues, I've accepted that some utilities are just rotten at the core. Financial shenanigans and quick-buck schemes are destroying the credibility of an industry we've dedicated our lives to build up.

Several winters ago, during the California energy crisis, I stuck up for energy companies, putting the blame squarely where it belonged — on the regulators. It looks like I was hasty. Now I realize that crooks and liars moved in to make quick bucks while thumbing their noses at those who attempted to play fair. Especially galling are those tainted cross-state energy-shifting deals crafted solely to boost revenues.

It was bad enough that Enron created shell corporations to hide its mega-losses, but how appalling to discover it was in collusion with its accounting firm, Andersen. Looks like the sheriff was in with the crooks. Congratulations to the 12-person jury that convicted Andersen of intentionally altering documents in a coverup. The deception was widespread as other utilities including Dynegy admitted to phony swaps made solely to bump up trading volumes.

Telecom is following the same path to destruction. With a Global Crossing here and an MCI WorldCom there, before you know it, the telecom industry has its own mega-crisis brewing. It is so bad that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is charging MCI WorldCom with fraud. How could WorldCom get away with overstating net income by US$3.8 billion? Not likely a rounding error. Oh, yes, I see Andersen was tending to the MCI WorldCom's books, too.

It looks like crooks and liars have been posing as movers and shakers. While the final verdict is up to a jury, the entire nation is disgusted at the magnitude of deception foisted upon us.

The consequences have been tragic for honest investors, not to mention honest employees who lost their jobs and retirement savings. I remember Ken Lay comforting his employees with this hopeful statement: “We'll get your money back.” Sure, Ken. That's just plain bull hockey. You were gone from your CEO position not a week after you made that ridiculous statement — a statement you had absolutely no ability to honor.

Now investors are dumping the stock of trading and generating companies in mass. And, why not? What do you really own? Cash flows, or lies and deceptions? If this accounting mess spreads any further — hello recession, goodbye prosperity.

Now that the press has exposed this underhanded dirty dealing, legislators are looking for ways to provide guilty parties with jail time. We need laws and regulations to assure honest financial reporting. Here's an idea: Why not hold CEOs accountable for the accuracy of their own financial statements?

What distresses me the most is the apparent lack of integrity of the many individuals in the know in these mega-corporations. Most of us work in sizable companies. We've seen a lot. We know that literally dozens of individuals must have had wind of what was going on, but instead of challenging the status quo, they decided to stuff it, to ride it out, to cross their fingers and hope.

Yes, we get comfortable in our jobs. Yes, we have mouths to feed. Yes, we are tired to the point of exhaustion. But look at it this way. If we don't face up to the events that will destroy our companies, we will be unemployed soon enough.

Imagine what would happen if more employees showed the courage of Enron whistle-blower Sherron Watkins. She was willing to admit that something smelled fishy. Watkins challenged the emperor with no clothes. With more Sherron Watkins', we'd have fewer Enrons and MCI WorldComs.

Keeping one's integrity isn't easy. I have personal ghosts that haunt me because I didn't have the guts to do what I knew was right. We all do. But I also have those few defining times when I did take a stand.

I'm not suggesting that we challenge authority at every opportunity. While I support the saying “Catch the Vision or Catch the Bus,” I'm not willing to step over the line. We will always have crooks and liars. The question we face is a personal one: Do we run with the crowd or do we put our jobs on the line to stand up for our profession?

Fortunately, life is filled with intersections. If we end up on the outside, we will undoubtedly find a road more to our liking, and in the process, preserve what really matters — our integrity.