Senators searching for the bad guys

Senators Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) held a press conference to discuss the Stop Excessive Energy Speculation Act. Dorgan said the act’s future lies in Republican support, saying that ending speculation is the first step in lowering oil prices and emphasizing that the need to halt excess speculation in the oil futures market is separate from calls for increased domestic drilling.

Dorgan said speculative oil prices have increased from 37 percent in 2000 to 71 percent in 2008. He called the market “infested with excess speculation,” saying though United States must develop alternative energies, a short term solution rests in controlling oil futures. Without high speculative costs, Dorgan said prices at the pump could be reduced by 20 to 40 percent.

Klobuchar, in response to suggestions that oil prices are reflective of the law of supply and demand, said American demand for oil has not increased by 25 percent, an increase she said would warrant higher prices at the pump. She cited oil executives statements that oil should be $50 per barrel and said the Stop Excessive Energy Speculation Act would put 100 “cops on the beat” who would oversee the activity of traders in the oil market. “Follow the money and you’ll find the bad guys” was the advice given by Klobuchar in reference to traders on Wall Street who, she said, are running away with Americans’ money.