Tom Carper

I am delighted you are here. Thank you for your great interest and leadership.

Just a point of clarification in response to your answer to Senator Vitter's last question.

OK. Could you just briefly explain for us banked allowances? Just take a minute on that. Just talk to us about banked allowances please.

The process you just outlined for us, it sounds like it could take a while, even without lawsuits. Is that a fair statement?

Could this rule be litigated and create some further delays?

So we are about 12 years into this without regulations that are fully established.

Well, thank you for that preview, and actually for a very encouraging preview.

We look forward to working with you and providing you the technical assistance you need to move forward.

The best way to do that is through comprehensive energy legislation.

We are moving aggressively to meet that commitment in hopes of proposing a rule in early 2010.

I appreciate and thank you for inviting me here today to testify on the work that we are going to do together to mitigate the impacts of emissions from power plants.

I agree with a good deal that Senator Voinovich has said. I especially agree with his comment.

Not only did we get 100 percent utility compliance, we did so achieving greater emission reductions at a faster rate than we expected at about one-quarter of the cost.

We can no longer wait for clean air.

I have faith that the EPA can write new and stronger rules to regulate these pollutants.

Thank you for the work you have done with your lives to date.

It is good to get out of sometimes the mentality of nuclear security as the nuclear security people look at that.

It has been fascinating for me just what my colleagues have discussed that directly pertains to the ultimate effectiveness of nuclear security.

I like to look at things in terms of the most likely course of action and the most dangerous course of action.

They cannot allow the Taliban to come back in. This would be, I think, sort of devastating for security in the country.

The United States is going to have to play a very large role in assisting the Pakistanis with counterinsurgency training, with equipment, more helicopters.

The plight of the refugees is more important right now than any military operation.

The most immediate threat to Pakistan right now was internal.

I am going to ask you to try and be brief; we are going to start voting in about 5 minutes.

The longer-term goal really must be to strengthen both Pakistan and India so that they can achieve their economic potential.