SENATE TAKES UP DORGAN BILL AIMED AT STOPPING OIL SPECULATION
Senator has pushed for legislation to put downward pressure on oil prices
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
CONTACT: Justin Kitsch
or Brenden Timpe
PHONE: 202-224-2551
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) --- As the U.S. Senate voted to consider Senator Byron Dorgan’s legislation to bring down gas prices, Dorgan called on his Senate colleagues Tuesday to support his efforts to put downward pressure on oil and gas prices by curbing excessive speculation in the energy futures market.
The Senate voted 94-0 to consider the “Stop Excessive Energy Speculation Act of 2008” (S. 3268), which Dorgan introduced along with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV). Most of the key provisions in this legislation were in Dorgan’s “End Oil Speculation Act,” which he introduced earlier this year. Dorgan says that excessive speculation is driving up energy costs to artificially high levels, and these bills are aimed directly at stopping that.
“The energy futures market has been broken with unbridled speculation, and the result is oil and gas prices that are shooting up like a Roman candle,” Dorgan said. “We have heard from a number of energy experts who tell us that the fundamentals of supply and demand cannot justify a doubling of price in the past year. This bill will wring the excess speculation out of the market and bring some relief to consumers who are paying through the nose at the gas pump.”
The Stop Excessive Energy Speculation Act would:
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