Olympia Snowe

I appreciate your advocacy and championing of the critical Federal efforts that are necessary to enhance affordable, high-speed Internet services for small businesses.

Could we have some sort of timetable that we envision this will happen throughout this country in terms of providing this deployment across the country?

I think it is critical to have the collaboration that is represented here today among all the agencies.

There are currently two herculean initiatives under way. The FCC has commissioned the National Broadband Plan and the Economic Recovery Act broadband stimulus funding programs, both of which will have far-reaching implications for small…

We know that fishing vessels are a tiny source of emissions, but if it is done fairly, a lot of us will probably be willing to do our part.

I think people would be surprised to what degree the fishing industry is regulated by the Federal Government.

The credibility and the integrity of the science is so important to the outcome.

Certainly we want to prevent any trauma to your industry.

This is an ideal network that we should be using for this purpose, but the funding recommendations are undercutting the system.

We owe it to them to come up with answers now.

Maybe the oil industry should do more.

Senator Snowe, you're absolutely right that anything you do to reduce carbon emissions is going to affect fishermen.

My fishing industry asked for us to be part of the process and to make sure we're doing our part and investing in quality research.

I think my job is certainly to try to reach out to, just, citizens and try to continue to carry this news.

Communication has to be part of it. Communicating what the problem is, in terms of, obviously, the solution.

If you can find a way of reducing carbon emissions that fishermen can live with, then the odds are good that most other people can get comfortable with it too.

I understand that one of the ways to reduce emissions is to put a price on carbon emissions, and maybe at some point we'll have to live with higher costs at the fuel pump.

I support your effort in the Senate to cap carbon emissions from utilities. It's a step in the right direction.

We thank you for giving your time, your precious time, away from your work.

Acidification cannot be considered in a vacuum.

Our oceans, which make up 70 percent of the planet's surface, are far too often overlooked, and as a source of the very building blocks of life, we cannot risk placing them in jeopardy.

I think if you had a string of meetings around the coasts you might find a lot of support for making the oil companies pay their fair share.

In just a few short years, ocean acidification has developed from a relatively new theory into one of the most disconcerting aspects of global climate change.

It's only appropriate that we would be convening this hearing today on the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, to discuss perhaps the greatest threat facing our planet's oceans.

If current trend of ocean acidification continues, by the end of this century vast areas of the sea could very well become inhospitable to many species which form the foundation of the marine food web.