So something is going to have to change if this is going to be effective, correct?

Between this and between the magically missing file that Mr. Verdelotti sent in, it begins, there begins to emerge a whiff of gamesmanship and manipulation through all of this.

I don't believe that our present status quo is some ideal state of nature from which any variation is an anomaly or an interference. The status quo right now is riddled with Government hand on the levers of our economy.

Should we also be thinking about pursuing a similar disaggregation so that the conservation portion of a utilities portfolio actually has to be separate?

The technology isn't here for some of these technologies because we have not met the market in the incentives and investment for their development.

The consequences of failing to do that are manifold. There are national security consequences, economic consequences, jobs consequences, quality of life consequences, environmental consequences, and they are all going to become very real…

It strikes me that in light of our existing incentives, that is sort of a self-fulfilling proposition.

I think a legislated solution is preferable.

The U.S. Supreme Court has determined as the law of the land that carbon is a pollutant subject to Clean Air Act regulation.

One of the aspects of the legislation I proposed is to at least adjust the pleading standards and effectively, a private right of action would be, I think, a stimulus for a lot of due diligence.

the Treasury proposal would require firms to register, subject them to high compliance costs, put at risk some firms' intellectual property, and hinder their revenue-generating ability.

The proposal I have made is not to change that liability standard but to change explicitly the pleading standard.

I am very pleased Chairman Dodd and Ranking Member Shelby have chosen to have a hearing examining proposals to enhance the regulation of credit rating agencies.

I particularly want to commend Senator Shelby because it was his leadership really in 2006 that first gave the SEC the clear authority to begin to regulate the credit rating agencies.

What I believe we have to do is to give legislative support to the SEC's efforts to focus on transparency through enhanced disclosure, and also to counteract the appearance or substance of conflict of interest.

Senator Reed's bill struck a very sensible compromise in my judgment.

I think this was something that we should pursue.

However, during the past year we have witnessed a significant amount of market instability stemming in part from the failure of these agencies to accurately measure the risks associated with mortgage-backed securities and other more…