The House Energy and Commerce Committee approved global climate legislation that would regulate hedging. The Stupak amendment in the Waxman-Markey bill essentially would force over-the-counter (OTC) trading to move to exchanges. IPAA supports transparency and increased oversight of derivatives markets. However, it strongly opposes any efforts to remove access by energy producers to the OTC market. Last week, IPAA sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to explain in greater detail the importance of OTC hedging to natural gas and oil producers and IPAA’s opposition to the Stupak language in the Waxman-Markey bill. On Monday, IPAA sent similar letters to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Chairman Chris Dodd and Ranking Member Richard Shelby.