Protests threatened over rising (UK) oil prices

http://www.guardian.co.uk/oil/story/0,11319,1213157,00.html

Peter Hetherington and Mark Milner
Monday May 10, 2004
The Guardian

Britain could face a wave of protests over rising fuel prices from the farmers and hauliers who forced petrol shortages almost four years ago with blockades at distribution depots and "rolling roadblocks".

The leader of the militant farmers' lobby which helped coordinate the mass picketing in 2000 said last night that action was inevitable because, he claimed, the big oil companies were exploiting international turmoil to increase prices.

... "There will be action within weeks," said the Monmouthshire dairy farmer. "There is a lot of anger out there. We are not sitting back and letting the likes of BP, Esso and Shell exploit the global situation and make people pay. We have had enough of their antics."

... At the weekend, the average price of a litre of petrol rose to above 80p, the level that triggered fuel protests across Britain in 2000.

more
So, by my rough calculation, 80p/litre = US$5.42/gal

...trip a week...

May 17-21 is "Bike to Work Week"...Should I try it now, or wait till this winter when it becomes a matter of survival?

Saturday, May 01, 2004

Truckers upset with sky-high diesel fuel prices protested in aggressive fashion Friday morning, blocking the northbound Golden State (5) Freeway in the city of Commerce for 30 minutes during rush hour by parking three trucks across traffic lanes.

...

A couple of hours after the freeway protest, more than 500 truckers gathered in a loosely organized protest at Banning Park in Wilmington where they marched on Pacific Coast Highway and forced closure of the road between Avalon Boulevard and Eubank Avenue.

Both protests were designed to highlight the spiraling cost of diesel fuel and the disparity between prices here and in other states.

Diesel prices have risen more than 30 cents in the past two weeks to as high as $2.50 per gallon, according to the California Trucking Association.

http://www.presstelegram.com/Stories/0,1413,204~21474~2120599,00.html


the prices keep going up and up. more protests coming, no doubt...

I'll leave other UK DUer's to describe the fuel protests in 2000 though.

I'll just add that there are other matters then petrol tax keeping petrol prices high.