Sen. Bernie Sanders Attacks Oil Speculators

Vermont independent Senator Bernie Sanders sponsored a bill to the Senate on March 21, to set a 14-day deadline for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to implement rules to stop excessive speculation by Wall Street investors in oil futures markets. The bill was co-sponsored by six other Senators.

With U.S. demand for oil down and increases in domestic production at an 8-year high, the rising prices at the pump are attributed little to nothing with administrative policy. Studies, including one by Goldman Sachs, one of the largest investors in oil futures, cites excessive oil speculation leading to an increase by as much as 56 cents per gallon of gas. The national average sits just below $4 right now, meaning almost 20% of the price of gas at the pumps has nothing to do with supply or demand. According to Sen. Sanders, it's time to reign in Wall Street.

via Think Progress

But there's another point to make here: global demand for oil is up. While the U.S. continues to be the world's largest user of oil, since 1970, Asia has increased its oil consumption by nearly 3 times. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, global demand accounts for 40% of the increase in prices, while speculation only accounts for 15%. What does this mean? That even if the U.S. opened every possible oil and natural gas reserve in the country, with global demand on the rise and by no means looking to slow down, Americans are going to pay more and more every year for gas no matter what we do with our natural resources. In essence, there's no better time to look to alternative fuel sources such as solar and wind energy.