Political Quotes

“Let me be very clear that I do oppose this amendment. This amendment is costly and wasteful. The amendment would redirect $10 billion away from Federal permitting streamlining, which we know would help lower costs and produce more energy, and instead funnel the money to another fruitless study of the unfounded position of somehow market speculation is impacting energy prices. Mr. Chairman, earlier this year, researchers Christopher Knittel and Robert S. Pindyck from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, MIT, found that speculation wasn't driving up energy prices. I will quote them, Mr. Chairman. Back to those pesky speculators for a moment: surely, their bets on oil have had at least some effect on prices? According to our latest research, the answer is: not really. In our recent paper, we explore the link between speculation and inventory changes. We calculate a series of speculation-free prices by creating a stable inventory of oil, providing us with a picture of what the market might look like in the absence of speculation. We focus on inventory for a simple reason: if oil prices are changing because of speculators, then there would have to be commensurate changes to inventories--a buildup when prices are increasing and a drawdown when prices are falling. But when the economy was strong and oil prices were increasing, we didn't see large increases in inventories. In fact, they fell somewhat.…”