Diesel prices

[ColinW]

The fact is that we all just better get used to this, because it's going to get a LOT worse. There are over a billion people living in China, and a huge number of them are climbing out of the rice fields and getting jobs in factories. These people are going to live the full western lifestyle, with consumerism, trips to the supermarket etc and they are going to want a car just as much as we do. At least two Indian companies are also starting to make cars for the masses, one of them, Tata, is marketing a four seater car which costs less than $2500, so that's bound to mean a few million more families switching from 100mpg scooters to 30mpg cars. Where do the moaners think all this extra fuel is going to come from? There isn't any new stuff!

And this is just the start. Since we now produce nothing of any real value in this country ("financial services" WTF is that all about?) we can expect the value of our currency to plummet to the point were we just can't afford to buy ANYTHING in competition with the far eastern nations whose populations actually do useful work. So it won't just be oil we can't afford, we can kiss goodbye to all the other commodities we've got used to. I wrote in another post that it's time for us to wake up and smell the coffee, well in a few years we might not even be able to do that, because we won't have any!

[JV44]

Recently drove down through france and on into Spain ,Cant remember the price in france but Spain was 1.38 euros a litre which at the time was about £ 1.15 a couple of years ago it was a lot cheaper than here but now a lot closer to uk price.

Tax burden on fuel needs to be lowered as well as pressure on oil companies to lower price by not buying off certain firms,Heard this very same conversation in French bars and Spanish Tapas bars during the stay over there so everyone seems to be singing off the same hymn sheet just not acting on it except for the french of course.

There fishermen blockading the ports forced us to abandon the ferry crossing and go by the tunnle instead at a silly price but i couldnt help but think they have the right approach to some of these things,Just wished that they had picked a different day to protest Steve

[Elton]

I think there was a blockade at a refinery last night. It would be great if this nation stood up and protested. Seriously, I can see riots on the street before this government goes. The miner's riots all over again. It's just a shame that it's the police who get the stick, and not the career-politicians who have never worked a day in a real job, yet are intent on making screwing up this country their lifetime abmbition.

[Guest Rabbit]

I think there was a blockade at a refinery last night. It would be great if this nation stood up and protested. Seriously, I can see riots on the street before this government goes. The miner's riots all over again. It's just a shame that it's the police who get the stick, and not the career-politicians who have never worked a day in a real job, yet are intent on making screwing up this country their lifetime abmbition.

 

Touch naive Elton, as much as I am not a fan of politicians, that said we need to raise taxes, so just what is the alternative?With car emissions choking the environment and choking our roads in Towns and Cities. can you imagine how pleasant life would be with just a quarter of cars on the road? To be able to walk along a High Street without being forced of the pavement, I reckon giving back our communities to the PEOPLE would be a step in the right direction. if high fuel prices concentrate peoples minds before buying a second or third car, or perhaps leaving the car at home and actually WALK or CYCLE, yes even in ESSEX this is possible so if the spin off to this fuel hike is less cars on our roads great bring it on I say.

[John S]

With car emissions choking the environment....

 

I agree Rabbit. What we need is more efficient engines plus some sort of filter that cleans the exhaust gasses before they enter the atmosphere. Oh, and also an additional test as part of the MOT that measures the cars' emmisions, leading to a failure if they don't fall below a certain level

 

Taking the lead out of petrol might help too....

[barry luxton]

Touch naive Elton, as much as I am not a fan of politicians, that said we need to raise taxes, so just what is the alternative?With car emissions choking the environment and choking our roads in Towns and Cities. can you imagine how pleasant life would be with just a quarter of cars on the road? To be able to walk along a High Street without being forced of the pavement, I reckon giving back our communities to the PEOPLE would be a step in the right direction. if high fuel prices concentrate peoples minds before buying a second or third car, or perhaps leaving the car at home and actually WALK or CYCLE, yes even in ESSEX this is possible so if the spin off to this fuel hike is less cars on our roads great bring it on I say.

 

 

Hummmmmmmmm,

 

While were at it. Get rid of all cars, lorries, planes,ships etc, etc. No one will go anywhere or receive anything. Go back to grow your own and become hunter gatherers again. No fishing boats using the awful polluting fuel. No school runs, and wouldn't need any safty cameras or 'parking attendants.'

Bus lanes, no need, dig em up and plant cabbages or whatever.

 

Looks like ken livingstone is moving north to manchester.

 

http://travel.aol.co.uk/manchester-set-for...606202209990008

 

The last lot of pollution control, congestion charge, indirect taxation aint working that he set up, so pass it on to some other suckers appears to be an idea.

 

I heard this week that boris found 200 bottles of fine wine that ken had stashed away, paid for by the ratepayers no doubt. Wonder how he got those hidden away, by public transport knowing ken.

Edited June 8, 2008 by barry luxton

[Vagabond]

Touch naive Elton,

Our alternative comedian's best one yet.

 

...can you imagine how pleasant life would be with just a quarter of cars on the road? To be able to walk along a High Street without being forced of the pavement,

With three-quarters of the motorists now joining you on foot on the pavement Rabbit, how will that improve your chances of not being forced off?

 

perhaps leaving the car at home and actually WALK or CYCLE

Good idea if you want to keep fit and save money.

 

However, it is really naive to think walking and cycling will "save the planet", what with India's air transport tripling in the last ten years, and affluent upwardly-mobile (pun intended) Chinese anxious to trade in their push-bikes for 4WDs. Still, that last trend will at least make second-hand pushbikes cheap - although you will have to walk to Bejing and cycle back in order to get one without "choking the environment".

[Guest Rabbit]

Hummmmmmmmm,

 

While were at it. Get rid of all cars, lorries, planes,ships etc, etc. No one will go anywhere or receive anything. Go back to grow your own and become hunter gatherers again. No fishing boats using the awful polluting fuel. No school runs, and wouldn't need any safty cameras or 'parking attendants.'

Bus lanes, no need, dig em up and plant cabbages or whatever.

 

Looks like ken livingstone is moving north to manchester.

 

Can you imagine school kids actually walking to work? Can you imagine walking to the shops, can you imagine a cleaner safer way of life? Go on give it a go, because that IS the future, as it was our past so we all better get used to it and stop sticking our heads in the sand. like I said ADJUST.

Edited June 8, 2008 by Rabbit

[Vagabond]

You can hardly blame people for being sceptical about the "oil is running out" message, wolf has been being called for as long as I remember.

 

Very true. The reserves of oil (and other physical resources such as metal ores) have been set to run out "in a few years" for as long as I can remember.

 

Prophets of doom (can anyone remember the "Club of Rome" in the 60s?) have been telling us we only have (say) ten years supply of many such resources. On the figures they show, based on KNOWN economically feasible reserves still in the ground, yes, it appears to be true.

 

But instead of running out of resources the law of supply and demand operates (plus of course some political interference). Resource prices rise and three things happen;

 

1. Resource companies intensify their exploration activities, so they discover new reserves.

2. Resource companies put more into research on extraction methods, so previously uneconomic deposits become extractable.

3. Primary consumers of resources look for more efficient ways of using them - more efficient engines in the case of oil, recycling of metals and developing better and longer lasting alloys in the case of engineering companies etc etc

 

The three above processes increase the apparent reserves of the resource - back above (say) ten years supply again, so for a few years all is well, until the prophets of doom speak again and the cycle is repeated.

 

Of course, common sense suggests that all resources are finite, and as for the "Cry Wolf" scenario, we should remember how the fable ends....

 

...but the truth is that on a global scale we are still a very long way from running out of anything - there are a lot of resources still out there undiscovered.

[Guest Rabbit]

Our alternative comedian's best one yet.

 

With three-quarters of the motorists now joining you on foot on the pavement Rabbit, how will that improve your chances of not being forced off?

 

Good idea if you want to keep fit and save money.

 

However, it is really naive to think walking and cycling will "save the planet", what with India's air transport tripling in the last ten years, and affluent upwardly-mobile (pun intended) Chinese anxious to trade in their push-bikes for 4WDs. Still, that last trend will at least make second-hand pushbikes cheap - although you will have to walk to Bejing and cycle back in order to get one without "choking the environment".

Strange that you should take this point of view(not the sarcasitic remarks that was expected) but the lack of understanding the problem, after all you and I are of an age when we did not have to run the gauntlet in towns of being run over, or spending hours on end in a traffic jam, so if you think that is a better model for our kids then I think you are wrong, the trouble is we are so in love with our cars we are blinded. Look at the smoking ban in public places, threats of anarchy, loss of business, and so on...in reality a resounding success, its called accepting change for the better.