Skyrocketing energy costs are effecting all of us in CT, especially those of us with long commutes and who have no choice but to drive automobiles. While I feel that the ultimate solution is to develop alternative sources of energy and mass transit, we must address the problems of our current system in the interim.
As a candidate for congress I support legislation aimed at closing loopholes and reining in excessive manipulation, and possible manipulation, of the oil futures market.
The Prevent Unfair Manipulation of Prices (PUMP) Act, is a comprehensive approach to address the loopholes that allow energy traders to evade federal oversight. The PUMP Act would quickly bring down the world oil price to the marginal cost of production, which the oil industry and oil market experts believe is around $60 a barrel.
The PUMP Act would:
- Close All Oil Futures Market loopholes: Completely closing the full range of loopholes being used by oil market speculators and dark market exchanges, including the so-called “Enron loophole” including for bilateral “off-exchange” trades; the foreign board of trade (FTOB) loophole; energy swaps dealers loophole; and, the bona fide hedging exemption loophole.
- Impose Aggregate Speculation Limits: Require the Commodities Future Trading Commission (CFTC) to set aggregate position limits on energy futures contracts for a trader across all contract markets. In doing so, the CFTC will be able to better prevent traders from amassing excessively large positions in a commodity across exchanges in an attempt to play one exchange off another.
- Require Information on Index Funds: Require public monthly reporting of index fund data for anyone trading U.S.-delivered energy futures contracts or trade on
- Strengthen Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Authority: Protect and strengthen the authority given to FERC in the 2005 Energy Policy Act to prosecute manipulation in natural gas and electricity markets.
While this is just a starting point for eliminating our daily economic struggles in
