Progressive Lawmakers Warn A ‘Significant Portion’ Of Gas Prices Is Due To Speculation, Call For

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Progressive Lawmakers Warn A ‘Significant Portion’ Of Gas Prices Is Due To Speculation, Call For Crack Down
http://thinkprogress.org/2011/04/16/progressive-lawmakers-oil-speculation/

Rising oil prices have pushed gas prices above $4 per gallon in many places, inflating prices on everything from food to airfare, imperiling the fragile economic recovery. Experts have been a bit befuddled by the steep rise in gas prices this early in the year, as global oil supplies have remained steady despite unrest in the Middle East.

Among other factors, experts are increasingly concerned about the prevalence of speculators in the global oil market which may be artificially inflating prices. Speculation on energy futures, including oil, is at an all-time high, jumping 64 percent since 2008. Everyone from Goldman Sachs to Republican lawmakers have acknowledged the role of speculation in artificially driving up prices. Energies futures markets used to be the domain of companies like airlines and shippers, which appropriately use trades to hedge against price volatility, but the markets are increasingly dominated by speculators who are only interested in making profits.

On Wednesday, ThinkProgress sat down with a handful of progressive House Democrats who also warned about the increasing prevalence of oil speculation and called for doing more to address it:

REP. PETE DEFAZIO (D-OR): A member of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said…a significant portion of what we’re paying here is due the speculation, I’m going to ask him if I can publically release his letter. … And this is a member of the commission saying this has got to stop.

REP. BRAD MILLER (D-NC): There is also, obviously, a lot of manipulation. It’s a little hard to detect it. But there actually been articles in the last couple weeks talking about the Koch Brothers, in addition to all their other good works, have been involved in oil speculation over the years. So there is an an international market that is subject to manipulation.

Watch it:
http://thinkprogress.org/2011/04/16/progressive-lawmakers-oil-speculation/



Speculators Drive Pain at the Gas Pump
http://newamericamedia.org/2011/04/speculators-drive-pain-at-the-gas-pump.php

[demodonkey]

1. I don't know HOW we are going to buy heating oil for next winter...

...there's not other via form of heat for us, and we can't afford a new furnace even if there was.

When I think of these greedy speculator pigs, ruining the economy and lives, making senior citizens sit in cold homes. :grr:

[yourout]

2. I think you are going to see a big increase in the use of wood pellet furnaces and stove.

<http://www.pellergy.com/wood-pellet-storage>

[notesdev]

7. and home fires

[yourout]

8. Actual pellet stoves and furnaces are very safe.......Wood stoves and fireplaces..not so much.

Most home owner insurance companys have no problem with pellet stoves and furnaces. They do not like wood fireplaces and stoves.

[notesdev]

9. and inexperienced users?

very not safe, if it's their first time with burning things in the home. Applied to a broad enough group of people, a few of them will fuck up and burn their homes down.

[yourout]

10. other than having to empty the ash pan pellet stoves are fully automated. Dump the bag in the......

hopper and turn it on.

Microcontroller runs the fans, controls the pellet feed, and monitors the temps. If the temp gets to high or fire goes out it shuts it down much like a standard oil/gas furnace.

[notesdev]

12. Still

in a nation that needs instructions on a bottle of ketchup...

[inna]

4. and... don't forget to thank Obama for cutting heating assistance - nt

[notesdev]

6. In the worst case

just catch yourself a banker and light him on fire

[MedleyMisty]

3. I was just reading the article about the communities in Illinois

That won the right to take over their local water utilities from a privately owned corporation that was gouging them.

And I had the thought that when Americans get pissed off enough about the gouging from the oil companies to demand something like that, that will be the true revolution.

[chaska]

5. Speculation and hoarding are going to be part of the picture....

from here on out. It's what happens when you've got a dwindling resource. The price will be higher tomorrow, so I'm gonna sit on it (and not sell it) today.

[Shagbark Hickory]

11. Is T.Boone Pickens advertising a lot lately? I haven't been watching.

I thought if anyone could influence policy, it would be this guy. It doesn't seem like he was successful in getting trucks switched over to natural gas.