Levin calls on Congress to adopt energy solutions

Published 3:38 pm Thursday, May 15, 2008

By Staff
WASHINGTON – Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., has called on Congress to adopt a comprehensive solution to address skyrocketing energy prices.
"Unless something is done to make energy more affordable, the record-high prices will continue to reverberate throughout our economy, increasing the prices of transportation, food, manufacturing and everything in between," Levin said in a speech on the Senate floor.
"Skyrocketing energy prices are a threat to our economic and national security, and the time for action is long past."
Levin, D-Mich., charged that the Bush administration's failed policies are one of the major causes of our energy crisis.
Since President Bush took office in January 2001, when the price of oil was about $30 per barrel and the average price for a gallon of gasoline was about $1.50, crude oil prices have nearly quadrupled, natural gas prices to heat homes have almost doubled, gasoline prices have more than doubled and diesel fuel prices have nearly tripled.
Additionally, Levin said, rampant speculation in the energy markets has contributed to price spikes in energy.
"Traders are trading contracts for future delivery of oil in record amounts, creating a paper demand that is driving up prices and increasing price volatility solely to take a profit," Levin said.
Overall, the amount of trading of futures and options in oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) has risen six-fold in recent years, from 500,000 outstanding contracts in 2001 to about 3 million contracts now.
As chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Levin has conducted four separate investigations into how energy markets can be made to work better, including a hearing last December on the role of speculation in rising energy prices.
As a result of those investigations and hearings, Levin advocated a variety of measures to address rising energy costs, rampant speculation and lack of regulation of energy markets which have led to sky-high energy prices, including:
Putting a cop back on the beat in the energy markets to insure these markets are free from excessive speculation and manipulation;
Stopping filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve until prices are lower;
Developing alternatives to fossil fuels to lessen our dependence on oil; and
Imposing a windfall profits tax on oil companies that have profited from the unjustified price increases.