SEATTLE (AP) — Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell are blaming commodity speculators for pushing up the price of gasoline.
They held a news conference Monday in Seattle to call for federal regulators to crack down on speculation.
Cantwell says the U.S Commodity Futures Trading Commission has authority under the 2010 Wall Street Reform bill.
The public affairs office at the commission referred a caller seeking comment to the commission’s website, which indicates it has proposed commodity future contract limits that are still in the public comment stage.
The AAA auto club reports the average price of a gallon of gasoline in Washington is $3.92. That’s 9 cents higher than the national average and up 4 cents in a week and 23 cents in a month.
