[cube]

The USA.
High fuel prices spark safety issues

[Karlos4]

Don't know why transportists just don't raise stuff prices to compensate for oil increased prices. The day they do food prices are going to skyrocket. They would prefer to have gas at a special price for them (cutting taxes on oil?) so the prices can be mantained.
What scared me was the mention that there were so few reserves. Supermarkets have stuff for a few days, less if there is compulsive buying. Gas stations for about a week. Officially, Spain has reserves for about a month if there comes no more oil. Not a lot of time.
Yesterday Peak Oil was on the news on catalan TV. A 30 minute program explaining all about it. People is awakening to this reality. Myself, I just discovered it about two months ago, after reading Last Light, the novel by Alex Scarrow. This site is a very helpfull place to learn and know from people who have been thinking about the problem for a long time.
I'm making my own preparations. I'm out of debt, but I live in the middle of Barcelona. Got some food stored, and buying more. I'm looking for a piece of land in the countryside, but if there is no time, I got some friends who own a farm about 100 kilometres from here. I just keep on being nice to them

[Barbara]

karlos, find a place with water. You're in serious serious troubles down there in Barcelona about water.

[JPL]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('eastbay', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('JPL', 'F')rance here.
I can confirm this story, I have a mate who is a trans-European trucker & talked to him this-morning.
Word from the inside is that the protest is going Europe-wide 'some time soon'. The aim will be to force governments across the EU to cut fuel taxes for all sectors.
Off now to fill the jerry cans...
JP

[JPL]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Twilight', 'A')s a regular viewer of peakoil.com he will have provisions to last him a year so a brief strike presents no problem.

[virgincrude]

The truckers are striking over several issues, it's very hard to get the right news here, the media is totally 'Berlusconi style' i.e owned by two or three major corporations each with their specific political backers. (I'm in Spain too ) There are also several truckers unions who have each brought different reasons to the table for their strikes, yesterday one was talking about demanding a rise in the basic pay rate for transport-trucking, not striking for tax reductions, so there's a complex mess of rules and regulations governing truckers around the country.

Within this mixed bunch, there are the usual agitators: men who simply need an excuse to puff up their chests and burn tyres in the highways, and beat up fellow truckers who just want to work. The statement from this sector this morning pedged to 'strike until there was no food left on the shelves'. Great. And who will you win over to your side with such intimidation?

Of course, over all, their beef is the high cost of diesel which has added a whopping 60% to their costs in just the past 6 months.

Karlos is right to be spooked, especially being in the middle of Barcelona with no land of his own. Today, there is a beautiful peacefullness as the lack of heavy trucks means we can hear the birds singing. But I won't be so happy if I find no milk on the shelves tomorrow .....

The major unions here are in bed with the socialist government. Which doesn't necessarily mean the government is looking out for the lowly worker. They're making all the right noises, but they do not control the price of diesel at the pumps, and they are limited in their ability to cut taxes on fuels, not least by EU constraints. Sarkozy tried to look like a heroe of the people last week when he proposed pan-European reduction of tax on fuel. He was politely told to fuck off. In 28 languages, I suppose.

The high cost of transport fuel is mixed in with the question of profiteering by middle men in the business of food distribution. Since last year, farmers and this year fishermen (Spain has Europe's largest fishing fleet) have been protesting regularly- handing out produce for free- to highlight the fact that they are not being paid costs, while consumers are paying 200% more than these costs of production. The so-called farmers markets are proliferating here: I only buy my fruit and veg from a local one, saving myself as much as 60% on some produce.

barbara, the water story is true, of course, Spain happens to be largely desert. But the drought broke officially this May. Barcelona's reservoires are now just above 50% capacity.

[virgincrude]

The largest circulation national newspaper here, El Pais, which calls itself ‘the Global Newspaper in Spanish”- (for those who believe in the New World Order style conspiracy, this is a Bilderberg allied newspaper, the CEO is a regular at those meetings) tells us this strike involves mainly the self-employed, and ‘independent’ truckers, apparently one-third of the country’s distributors. The main Spanish truckers Union, the Spanish Confederation of Merchandise Transport, are not on strike. The newspaper makes a point of saying the strikers are not a large force within the industry, so they’re hinting that this bunch of no-gooders are messing things up for civil society: preparing the way for a civil back lash against these independent workers.

Large distribution centers around the country have reportedly added stock over the past week in preparation for this indefinite strike, in the hope of being able to keep the shelves stocked. It seems likely smaller supermarkets and distributors will be the most affected, whereas large chains like Carrefour (French owned, accounts for 20% of the market share) are better prepared, since they mostly use trucking companies which are not affected by the inability to raise their charges as fuel costs rise. That’s the main bone of contention with the small companies, who are prevented by current market regulations from making price adjustments: i.e they can’t off set the rising prices by raising their customer’s bill.

If the strike carrries on through the week, the repercussions will be social distress and more political pressure on a floundering government psychologically unprepared for the depth of this ongoing economic crisis. I expect burning cars in the suburbs is next on the agenda …..

[JPL]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('virgincrude', ' ')it's very hard to get the right news here, the media is totally 'Berlusconi style'

[pedalling_faster]

how much of Spain's & France's & Europe's mass transit is based on a source independent of oil ?
just wondering how much of a work-around that provides.

BBC Coverage

[JPL]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pedalling_faster', 'h')ow much of Spain's & France's & Europe's mass transit is based on a source independent of oil ?
just wondering how much of a work-around that provides.

[eXpat]

The protests are spreading to Portugal as well link.

[virgincrude]

Thanks for the tip JPL, we don't have sattelite TV but you may have misunderstood when I said 'hard to get the right news". I meant it's impossible to find unbiased Spanish news media. The mainstream here are either flat out alarmists with reports like you mentioned (I have seen no panic buying in my neighbourhood, and the shelves here are always half empty on a Monday anyway ....) or flat out pro-government, reassuring us there's no cause for alarm and the filling stations won't run out of gas.

National TV was showing footage of the queues at the gas stations over the weekend, and people loading their shopping trolleys, but it was not a scene of mass-panic buying. More like Christmas shopping time really.

These truckers blockades at the French border are a tradition. At the slightest provocation French and Spanish truckers will become, well, truculent

pedalling faster: Spain has a growing network of electrified bullet trains, the AVE, however, there are doubts the unfinished and projected lines will actually run anything like their potential unless Spain does something about its piss poor electric grid. Most of our electricity comes from JPL's neck of the woods. Makes a mockery of the socialist government pledge never to build another nuclear power station, most of the stuff we get glows in the dark anyway

Where I live, Almeria (200,000 population) on the coast bordering the desert, we have a SINGLE train track for in and out and it's been that way since before the civil war. The local airport will happily send you to parts of Germany, the UK, and in the summer months if you're lucky maybe a charter flight to somewhere exotic, like Belgium. But the link between here and Madrid for example, is still highly priced with one of the national carriers charging 200Euros plus for a one way. By car, it takes five hours breaking no speed limits and stopping only twice. By rail, 7 hours. The high speed rail links Barcelona to Madrid, and from Madrid to Sevilla, and Malaga. The AVE Madrid-Sevilla takes just under three hours. By car from here it takes 5 hours by ordinary train. No AVE. And if we wanted to take the train to Barcelona (a mere 1000 K approximately) we'd be sitting on it for 13 HOURS!! So, as far as we are concerned, we may as well still be living in the dark ages. Not that this is a bad thing in terms of PO.

Spanish transport infrastructure is third-world, pushing you to take the highway. It would be a disaster in times of real crisis. (I don't think this is, it is just another manifestation of stupid economics.) Not only that, but the Spanish rail gauge is not European standard. Franco bought his tracks cheap from Russia. When you travel by rail from Spain to France, you get a bumpy ride at the border while the train has to stop and get itself compatible- not sure how they do that, but it's quite a procedure! Obviously the new AVE tracks are aimed at connecting London with Malaga via Paris, so those are up to date.

[ekaggata]

Several personal anecdotal reports here.

Gives some depth for those of us in other parts of the world.

[ekaggata]

My personal favourite:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'W')ell people think they have it hard in Europe, what do you think of the people working in poorer countries, like myself? The poor countries are suffering a lot more than the European richer counterparts, but I believe we are all suffering. It's about time we pulled the plug on Opec and all the other nasty oil companies, and take a leaf out of the Venezuelan president, but this time all of Europe stick together, so we can't be pushed. After all, we do produce our own oil, so we can be independent of the Arab states' oil.
Scott, Thailand

[truecougarblue]

We had a family vacation in Catalonia this past spring. It's interesting and a bit unnerving to me to see this occurring there for two reasons.
1) I thought to myself many times as we criss-crossed the countryside, "this place is going to do well post-peak". So much ag, ocean, public transit.
2) I remarked to several people that Catalonia felt more "free" than California, and that I'd move there in a heartbeat given the right opportunity.

Now it's staring into the abyss? What does that say about the chances of the good and bad people of clownifornia?

[JPL]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('truecougarblue', 'N')ow it's staring into the abyss? What does that say about the chances of the good and bad people of clownifornia?

[virgincrude]

Yeah. "Staring into the abyss" is typical Hollywood interpretation.

Strikers are preventing the gasoline from getting to the gas stations. We haven't totally run out of oil.

Jeez. People here, in the midst of it, are telling it like they see it, and you go and hear; "PANIC! They're staring into the abyss!"

[cube]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('JPL', '.')..
This is our electrified rail network:

[Karlos4]

What this strike is showing is how fragile our sistem is. Yesterday, our Interior Minister told people not to worry because there are supplies in shops "for at least three or four days". The same with gas stations. Got to say that, although there has been some "panic shooping" it has not been widespread, and life is absolutely normal in Barcelona (and then everywhere else in the country).
Of course, the strike is the main subject on the media. But they still do not recognize that oil is the problem behind it all. Minutes ago, I listened to some guy on the radio. He blamed the strike on politics, transport mafia, poor infraestructures. But he was sure there were world oil reserves until 2050 and the price rise was not related to the inability to produce more oil. Maybe it's an easier way of thinking, because the real problem has no solution. But sooner or later, we'll all have to face it.
BTW, Catalonia still has a wonderfull countryside to live in. Plenty of water and food and nice little villages, just 100 kms. from this mega city. That's were you will find me WTSHF. (as they say here, love english)

[wisconsin_cur]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Karlos4', 'W')hat this strike is showing is how fragile our sistem is. Yesterday, our Interior Minister told people not to worry because there are supplies in shops "for at least three or four days". The same with gas stations. Got to say that, although there has been some "panic shooping" it has not been widespread, and life is absolutely normal in Barcelona (and then everywhere else in the country).
Of course, the strike is the main subject on the media. But they still do not recognize that oil is the problem behind it all. Minutes ago, I listened to some guy on the radio. He blamed the strike on politics, transport mafia, poor infraestructures. But he was sure there were world oil reserves until 2050 and the price rise was not related to the inability to produce more oil. Maybe it's an easier way of thinking, because the real problem has no solution. But sooner or later, we'll all have to face it.
BTW, Catalonia still has a wonderfull countryside to live in. Plenty of water and food and nice little villages, just 100 kms. from this mega city. That's were you will find me WTSHF. (as they say here, love english)