The Energy Markets Emergency Act of 2008 () was a bill in the

110th Congress The 110th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, between January 3, 2007, and January 3, 2009, during the last two years of the Presidency of George W. Bush. It was composed of ...

that "directs the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to use its authority to deal with issues causing major market disturbances." More specifically, the legislation directed the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to utilize all its authority, including its

emergency powers A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state du ...

, to curb immediately excessive speculation, price

distortion In signal processing, distortion is the alteration of the original shape (or other characteristic) of a signal. In communications and electronics it means the alteration of the waveform of an information-bearing signal, such as an audio signa ...

, sudden or unreasonable fluctuations or unwarranted changes in prices, or other unlawful activity that is allegedly causing major market disturbances that prevent the market from accurately reflecting the forces of supply and demand for commodities. Project Vote Smart’s info page o
Energy Markets Emergency Act of 2008 (H.R.6377)

Not Passed

The bill was passed in the House. But in the Senate, sixty "yes" votes were required for the July 25, 2008 cloture motion to be successful, but the measure received only 50 "yes" votes with 43 lawmakers opposed. Senate Democrats said the legislation was needed to give the government new powers to curb alleged speculators, whom some lawmakers accuse of being behind the run-up in crude oil and gasoline prices. However, Senate Republicans strongly opposed the bill, arguing the legislation should be modified to also boost U.S. oil production by allowing more

offshore drilling Offshore drilling is a mechanical process where a wellbore is drilled below the seabed. It is typically carried out in order to explore for and subsequently extract petroleum that lies in rock formations beneath the seabed. Most commonly, the te ...

and developing vast

oil shale Oil shale is an organic-rich fine-grained sedimentary rock containing kerogen (a solid mixture of organic chemical compounds) from which liquid hydrocarbons can be produced. In addition to kerogen, general composition of oil shales constitut ...

fields in the West.Tom Doggett
"Senate energy speculation bill fails key vote,"
''Reuters,'' accessed via ''The Washington Post'' on July 25, 2008.

References

* Donny Shaw
"Congress Takes on the Oil ,"
OpenCongress.org Gossip Blog, July 9, 2008 {{reflist Energy in the United States Proposed legislation of the 110th United States Congress Energy markets