American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2022 - 14

IndustryDigest
Price Gouging Bill
Passes U.S. House
WASHINGTON-In an effort that
many voices across the ideological
spectrum agreed was grounded more
in election year politics than
meaningful policymaking, the U.S.
House of Representatives on May 19
passed a gasoline price gouging bill
by a 217-207 vote that saw no
Republican support and four
Democratic defections.
According to congress.gov, H.R.
7688, the Consumer Fuel Price Gouging
Prevention Act, prohibits selling, during
a proclaimed energy emergency, a
consumer fuel at a price that is
" unconscionably excessive " to exploit
the emergency. It contains provisions in
which the president may proclaim such
an emergency and specify the consumer
fuels and geographic areas it covers.
H.R. 7688 also provides for
enforcement of these provisions by the
Federal Trade Commission and state
attorneys general.
Meanwhile, Senate Commerce,
Science and Transportation Committee
Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wa., on May
12 introduced similar legislation, S.
4217, the Transportation Fuel Market
Transparency Act. The bill passed out of
committee on May 25, and published
reports indicate that, though the
legislation has almost no chance of
passing, Senate Majority Leader Chuck
Schumer, D-N.Y., has vowed it will
receive a floor vote.
Such legislation appears to be mere
attempts at political cover to allow some
in Congress to claim they are
addressing gasoline prices, assesses
American Petroleum Institute Vice
President for Federal Relations Lem
Smith. He describes H.R. 7688 as an
empty messaging bill " dressed-up to
look like real policy. "
Smith mentions that the FTC has
probed oil companies' role in unusually
high prices several times. " Over the
years, numerous robust investigations
by the FTC have shown that increases in
gasoline prices are based on market
factors-including supply and demand
fundamentals-and not due to illegal
behavior, " he observes.
He cites several policymakers and
public voices, from President Joe Biden
to the Washington Post editorial board,
who acknowledge that factors outside
14 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER
oil companies' control drive pump
prices. Among them are Harvard
professor Lawrence Summers, who
served as U.S. Treasury Secretary under
President Bill Clinton and Director of
the National Economic Council under
President Barack Obama.
" The price gouging at the pump
stuff . . . is dangerous nonsense, "
Summers says. " There is no material
prospect that in any enduring way
gouging legislation can have any
substantial effect on inflationary
pressure, but it can cause and contrive
all kinds of shortages. It can distort a
complex network of flows between
crude and refined product. It can
inhibit the supply responses that are
ultimately the best way to overcome
inflation. This gouging talk is . . . a
pandering diversion from all that. "
Smith also points to remarks from
Biden earlier this year in which the
president identified two roots
responsible for elevated gasoline
prices. " First, the pandemic. When
COVID struck, demand for oil
plummeted so production slowed
down worldwide, and because of the
strength and the speed of our recovery,
demand for oil shot back up much
faster than the supply, " Biden is
quoted. " That's why the cost of gas
began to rise last year. The second root
is Vladimir Putin. "
American families and businesses
are bearing record-high gasoline
prices, and need Congress to offer
more substance than symbolism,
Smith says. " Many are anxious and in
search of real solutions-not just more
rhetoric, " he assesses. " Washington
policymakers should consider policies
that would foster additional
investment and bring on new energy
supplies, which the U.S. and our allies
abroad are desperate to secure now
and over the long term. " ❒
SEC Proposes Standard
For Describing Funds
That Emphasize ESG
WASHINGTON-The federal
Securities and Exchange Commission
has proposed amendments to rules and
reporting forms that it says will
promote consistent, comparable and
reliable information for investors
concerning funds' and advisers'
incorporation of environmental, social
and governance factors. The proposed
changes would apply to certain
registered investment advisers,
advisers exempt from registration,
registered investment companies and
business development companies.
According to the commission, the
proposed amendments seek to
categorize certain types of ESG
strategies broadly and require funds
and advisers to provide more specific
disclosures in fund prospectuses,
annual reports and adviser brochures
based on the ESG strategies they
pursue. Specifically:
· Funds focused on considering
environmental factors generally will be
required to disclose the greenhouse gas
emissions associated with their portfolio
investments.
· Funds claiming to achieve a
specific ESG impact will be required to
describe the specific impacts to which
they aspire and summarize their
progress on achieving them.
· Funds that use proxy voting or
other engagement with issuers as a
significant means of implementing an
ESG strategy will be required to disclose
information regarding their proxy voting
on particular ESG-related voting matters
and information concerning their ESG
engagement meetings.
To complement the proposed ESG
disclosures in fund prospectuses,
annual reports and adviser brochures,
SEC adds, the proposal will require
certain ESG reporting on forms on
which funds and advisers report
census-type data that inform the
commission's regulatory, enforcement,
examination, disclosure review and
policymaking roles.
" I am pleased to support this
proposal because, if adopted, it would
establish disclosure requirements for
funds and advisers that market
themselves as having an ESG focus, "
says SEC Chairman Gary Gensler.
" ESG encompasses a wide variety of
investments and strategies. I think
investors should be able to drill down to
see what's under the hood of these
strategies. This gets to the heart of the
SEC's mission to protect investors,
allowing them to allocate their capital
efficiently and meet their needs. "
The comment period will remain
open for 60 days after the proposal's
publication in the Federal Register. ❒
http://www.congress.gov
American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2022

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