As the second quarter creative accounting season gets set to kick off, the SEC has identified another tangent to focus on. In addition to the Steve Jobs health conspiracy, the SEC has decided that now is the time to take a hard line on climate change. Having closely scrutinized all the major contributing factors to the economic freefall last year, Mary Schapiro's troops are starting at the top of the list and looking at the critical failure of companies to disclose or even mention the impact of climate change on their business. One of the SEC commissioners, Elisse Walters, aptly summed up the senselessness of this initiative by pointing out:

"We have a lot of internal education to do," she said. "This obviously is not an agency populated with climate experts, and we're going to talk to everyone who is knowledgeable in the area, who's willing to talk to us. We'll educate ourselves, and then we'll decide -- the staff will decide -- what to put before the commission or not."

Bernie never would have been able to get away with his little scheme had the SEC been looking into his power bills.
SEC Turnaround Sparks Sudden Look at Climate Disclosure [NYT]