For lobbyists, high gas prices are good news

[babylonsister]

For lobbyists, high gas prices are good news
By Jim Snyder
Posted: 06/09/08 07:33 PM


There may be one group of people who don’t mind the soaring oil prices — lobbyists.

Rising gas prices have provided steady employment on K Street, even if the spike has made it more expensive to fill up the SUVs lobbyists seem to favor.

Advocates of various stripes have had to fend off a variety of legislation that would do everything from opening OPEC up to antitrust lawsuits, to allowing oil and gas developers access to offshore areas now off-limits, to taxing “windfall profits” the industry now gets and redirecting the money to promote renewable energy.

None of these proposals ever has much hope of passing, although they return every year, meaning new contracts for K Street.

But as gas reaches a national average of $4 a gallon for the first time in the nation’s history, some see the makings of a consensus on Capital Hill: making it harder for investors to buy crude on the commodity futures markets.

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http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/for-lobbyists-high-gas-prices-are-good-news-2008-06-09.html