NM-Sen: Study Proves Pearce Ignored Root Cause of Higher Gas Prices

GOP Senate candidate Steve Pearce likes to spout off about energy, but what he says often has no basis in fact. Take gas prices, for instance. Pearce constantly proclaims that the only way to help lower gas prices is to -- as rightwingers love to chant -- drill, baby, drill, everywhere, regardless.

First off, we all know by now that any positive affects on price of much of the proposed expanded drilling wouldn't kick in for 8-10 years. No help for prices in the short term. And now we know, for a fact, that out of control speculation was the primary culprit in recent gas price hikes. Unfortunately, Pearce sees no merit in trying to fix that. His loyalties always seem to lie with the speculators and tycoons, not with ordinary people.

An independent study by Masters Capital Management said that speculation by large investors was the primary cause for the rise in oil prices this year, not supply and demand. The Associated Press on the study on Wednesday.

According to a statement by the Tom Udall campaign, that means Steve Pearce’s July vote against the Commodity Markets Transparency and Accountability Act, which would have cracked down on excessive oil speculation, was a vote that ignored the primary cause of high gas prices and only put more money into the pockets of Big Oil.

Tom Udall voted for the bill, which narrowly failed to pass the House.

“If voters are looking for someone to blame for high gas prices, look no further than Steve Pearce and other disciples of George Bush’s failed energy policies,” Udall campaign spokeswoman Marissa Padilla said. “Steve Pearce’s record on energy has been abysmal. His vote against cracking down on oil speculation only reinforced Pearce’s refusal to put the interests of middle class Americans ahead those of Big Oil.”

According to the Associated Press: “The report by Masters Capital Management said investors poured $60 billion into oil futures markets during the first five months of the year as oil prices soared from $95 a barrel in January to $145 a barrel in July. Since then, these investors have withdrawn $39 billion from those markets as prices have retreated dramatically, the report said.”

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