House Dems Split On Oil Speculation Fix

摘要

House Democrats appear split on legislation to rein in oil market speculation, with key members of the House Agriculture Committee expressing skepticism at hearings this week on the need for action on the issue while a leading Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee pushed legislation to establish aggressive new federal powers to curb trading abuses.rnAt the first of three hearings aimed at parsing proposed legislation rushed forward in recent weeks targeting financial firms and pension funds, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) said Wednesday he had "yet to see any hard data proving that increased speculation is responsible for the record increases in commodity prices... However, I am willing to examine this and be convinced."rnMeanwhile, Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), one of six House Democrats appearing before the committee Wednesday, pitched his updated version of the Prevent Unfair Manipulation of Prices (PUMP) Act (H.R. 6330), which would, among other things, grant the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) new powers to freeze the assets of companies prosecuted for market manipulation in natural gas and electricity markets.