Skyrocketing fuel prices show no sign of flagging, and no one's happy about it (except the occasional holier-than-thou environmentalist). Truck drivers and transportation operators have threatened to strike, gone on strike, or are still striking in Britain, France, Hong Kong, India, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Scotland, South Korea, Spain, and Thailand. In some places truckers have quit the roads altogether, while others are driving at a crawl and snarling traffic. In those countries as well as Malaysia and Nepal, protesters have taken to the streets; two protesters in Spain and Portugal have died trying to block traffic. The pushback is arguably taking the most toll in Spain, where gas stations in some areas have run dry, supermarket shelves are emptying, and the car industry will likely shut down entirely this week for a lack of parts and fuel. As of May 30, average gas prices were $3.96 in the United States, $8.31 in Britain, $9.66 in France, and $11.49 in Germany.
source: The Telegraph, The Washington Post, The Age, The New York Times, Reuters
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Comments
View as Flat
PermieWriter Posted 7:29 am
11 Jun 2008
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redambrosia99 Posted 8:30 am
11 Jun 2008
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caniscandida Posted 9:10 am
11 Jun 2008
O AmazingDrX, amazing, ain't it, that, IMHO, there are actually some Americans who remember enough about the past as to make a pun on "Hell No, We Won't Go."
Anyway, though their pain is not quite the same -- could anyone's be, really? -- , nevertheless: Best wishes to the European truckers!
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PermieWriter Posted 9:50 am
11 Jun 2008
And the Spanish fishermen. And the Canadian draft horse owners. Indonesian students. Thai truckers. British fishermen. German farmers. Heck, I winced during our once-every-couple-of-months fill-up yesterday. Might as well protest the rising tide. We're all going to feel the pinch.
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Wolverine Posted 9:57 am
11 Jun 2008
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Jonas Posted 10:49 am
11 Jun 2008
Energyshortage.org.
102 regions and territories are seeing energy protests today.
They range from Nepalese farmers who can't ship food to market, with urban hunger as a consequence, to students in Cameroon getting killed during protests over their energy bills.
Pretty scary.
And then there's the indirect effects. High oil prices are causing famine and hunger for 100 million new people, potentially.
Maybe the doomers are right after all: Peak Oil will wreak serious havoc.
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Pangolin Posted 12:29 pm
11 Jun 2008
It seems strange but my dream of the worlds fishing fleets converting to sail and hand lining in order to ease fishing pressure may be a reality. In Alaska in the 80's I saw a large, custom made. salmon trawler fitted out to run on sail. That was a beautiful boat but I think there is only the one.
Watch for fisherman purchasing large displacement sailing yachts and doing kludge conversions to fishing vessels. Fishing a fat diesel with these fuel prices has to be a losing bet.
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jld021 Posted 12:28 am
12 Jun 2008
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John former Marine Posted 12:53 am
12 Jun 2008
They say that the shape of our spine suggests that the exercise we are best suited for is "walking," not driving.
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redambrosia99 Posted 1:48 am
12 Jun 2008
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setb Posted 1:56 am
12 Jun 2008
Continued cheap carbon is actually the worst thing that could happen to the world.
Imagine what's going to happen when carbon's external costs are factored into the equation...
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MAD MAC Posted 2:11 am
12 Jun 2008
Those living in the amazon area are going to eat it / mostly slash and burn. There's a billion people down there, and they have to eat something, and they have to use something to cook that something they're eating with.
In Africa, a lot of people are just going to die, even more than they are doing that already. Africa will feel the pain first and strongest. Come to think of it, they already are.
Well, I guess the world doesn't really need a billions Indians and Chinese anyway.
Implosions, of course, cause enormous destruction, including environmental destruction. But a couple of billion dead would make Wolverine happy, so its not all bad.
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gormsby Posted 2:36 am
12 Jun 2008
Scotland being one of the three constituent states of the UK sharing the isle of Britain, this phrasing is a bit redundant, and unfortunately might add to the impression that we Americans are lacking in our geographic knowledge. Please note for the record that an American submitted this erratum.
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MAD MAC Posted 2:42 am
12 Jun 2008
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Wolverine Posted 3:59 am
12 Jun 2008
And perhaps people who annoy you are just trying to get you to give up some of your destructive lifestyle, not bragging about theirs. When people start crying to me about how they can't do without this or that, I tell them exactly how I do it, not for the purpose of bragging, but to show them that and how it can be done.
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latenac Posted 4:11 am
12 Jun 2008
Most of the smug people I do see bragging, cheering on high oil prices are people who live very comfortably to begin with and shop at Whole Paycheck and maybe even work out of their homes if they aren't stay at home parents to begin with. They're about as clueless as the comments made by Michael Pollan and Alice Waters about how now the price of food is going up people will choose to buy higher quality food and eat less.
Yes I'm sure the average American who is just getting by to begin with working 2-3 jobs is thinking yay oil is going up it will force people to change! yay conventional food now is only $2 cheaper than organic, I'll go 3 days without lunch to buy the organic!
There needs to be a balancing act between helping those in need and changing our way of living. I could actually be happy about rising oil costs if I saw a truly concerted wide ranging effort to provide alternatives to how we're living now that are workable. We shouldn't be cheering high oil prices or even demanding lower oil prices, we should all be working together to come up with what the new norm will be and how we can address these issues in a way that's best for the planet and best for the poor.
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Wolverine Posted 8:10 am
13 Jun 2008
And your derision of those who work from their homes and of stay at home moms, which they all should be in order to properly raise their children (sorry, this is one area where I completely disagree with feminists, but it's another issue), shows that your priorities are leftist, not environmentalist. The problems are that there are far too many humans on the planet and that many, if not most, individually consume too much, including consuming things they shouldn't be, like oil, coal, and uranium. The way the rich and the middle class treat people who have less money is disgusting, but it's a minor issue comparatively.
And BTW, I'm one of those cheering on higher fuel prices, and I'd be categorized as American working class at best. To paraphrase Dr. King, if you're not willing to sacrifice for the good of the Earth, you don't deserve your life.
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latenac Posted 4:15 am
16 Jun 2008
Humans are part of the earth whether you like it or not. If things get too crappy all the environmental causes you espouse will go right out the window b/c people having to choose between food or medicine or gas to get to work or whatever aren't going to want to get behind any movement that will reduce them to have to choose some food or some medicine or some gas to get to work.
As for your crack about wohm well we're all individuals who have our own families and need to make them work for us in our own unique way. I know plenty of moms who are better off being wohm or would be better off and I know plenty of the reverse. But this blog isn't about the mommy wars but thanks for contributing to it.
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woman warrior Posted 11:41 pm
16 Jun 2008
The broader effects of the gas price explosion are also revealing the interconnections among disparate areas of the global economy. Though this is all to the good in rousing those of us who have been comfortable for a long time to the realities of living in a resource limited world, the people living at the margins are and will continue to suffer. The solutions to the dramatic inequities in this country and the rest of the world are going to require impressive leadership from our government and cooperation that balances self interest and community.
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jessimonster Posted 12:20 am
17 Jun 2008
If only ...
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bkfab Posted 1:08 am
17 Jun 2008
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blacksheep Posted 1:16 am
17 Jun 2008
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blacksheep Posted 1:23 am
17 Jun 2008
Unfortunately, the environment vs the poor debate isn't going to go away any time soon, and the reason is simple. Having a healthy planet means consuming less, which means (given no change in population) having less in terms of goods, mobility, etc.. Will the rich of the world make sure it is they, and not the poor, who have less? Will the rich of the world protect the poor during the inevitably difficult transition to an economy that is light on the planet? The American middle class is, in comparitive terms, quite wealthy - will they, even as they feel the pinch in their own wallets, feel that it is their duty to promote equity and help bear some of the brunt of what the truly poor will suffer? And yet, the economic status and political clout of the poor in the world is rising, so perhaps they will, in their vast numbers, be able to force these concessions from the rich, more or less at gunpoint?
To end on a happier note, I believe a blend of forward-thinking government action and cultural changes can help relieve the situation. What if our government decided to relieve some of the pressure by investing in better train, bus and bicycle systems - TODAY? What if States marked established cities and villages for growth, connected these with transit, and created policies to encourage desirable density (depending on city size) and discourage suburban sprawl? What if people began to see the merits of living closer to resources, having relationships with neighbors and doing more for themselves? All of these things are possible and more - and it is expensive energy that will generate this creative burst... necessity is the mother of invention. hopefully, then, my great grandchildren will be able to live in a world that uses a moderate amount of energy so efficiently that energy ends up being not so expensive after all....
Of course all change means there will be winners and losers, and people with means will position themselves as well as they can to not be the losers. Therefore, it will be important to do a better job than we have in the past of helping the poor and increasing equity. It is also important for energy prices to increase somewhat gradually, so as to give us time to adjust, begin creating our new society and of course to avoid economic and humanitarian meltdown.
all in all, I still say Viva High Energy Prices!
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sweetbeans Posted 1:58 am
17 Jun 2008
The problem here in LA (one of the problems) is that people live too far away from where they work. There are too many causes of that to get into here, but those of us who can get around it, should. My husband and I are white-collar working class, and we made the move to a part of town where we were close to work and close to shops, so that now we only drive occasionally. The adjustment wasn't easy - we now live in a small 1 bedroom apartment, and commuting to work by bicycle involves risk and sacrifices. However, life isn't just about convenience. Those of us making sacrifices shouldn't be looked on as elitist.
Environmentalism aside, it's a civic duty to look after your community. Pollution-related illness, congestion, noise, and environmental degradation all seriously erode the quality of life for all of us living in the city. A culture of obsessive consumerism has led to poor city planning, poverty, and environmental crisis. Rather than insisting on retaining lower fuel prices so that we can maintain this way of life, we should be thinking of ways to restructure our lives so that we're not dependent on cheap gas. And that doesn't mean living as a hippie drop-out.
Oh, and PS, Wolverine, it's not anti-feminist to expect parents to raise their own children. The point is that many (or most) women with children can't afford to stay at home. And don't forget, dad's make great stay-at-home parents, too.
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MAD MAC Posted 2:03 am
17 Jun 2008
Well then, you should go out and kill yourself now, as you are using resources that are harming the earth - and your breathing is generating CO2.
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