From: Think Progress
By Climate Guest Contributor
Lee Fang in a Think Progress repost.
In recent weeks, gas prices
around the country have surged to levels unseen since the 2008 oil
spike. However, market fundamentals are not driving the nearly
$4.00/gallon gas prices. In fact, under the Obama administration, oil
production is at record highs and there is adequate
global supply of crude. As Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)
commissioner Bart Chilton has explained, rampant oil speculation, which
is at its highest level on record right now, is to blame for current prices.
Currently, the public knows very little about the oil speculation industry because a conservative majority on the CFTC has refused to implement a mandate from the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform bill to curb abuses.
Meanwhile, Republicans are pushing steep cuts
to the CFTC, hampering any new rules on oil speculation that may be
released later this summer. Fortunately, both the Securities and
Exchange Commission and the CFTC have so far survived the latest round of budget cuts. MORE
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