Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Gas Prices Not Just An American Problem
()
Did you hear about the striking Spanish fishermen? Or perhaps the disgruntled French farmers? Maybe the embattled Bulgarian truckers? All of them, and many more workers across Europe who depend on tractors, trucks, boats, and barges to drive commerce, are speaking out against the skyrocketing prices of gas in Europe, which pays about twice as much to fill up a tank than America does.
The Spanish and Portuguese fishing industry, the largest in Europe, is in fact at a stand-still: workers have gone on strike to protest the rapid increase in diesel fuel. Today's article in the L.A. Times is an important reminder of how far America's gas prices have yet to rise:
Fishermen in Spain and Portugal began nationwide strikes Friday, keeping their trawlers and commercial boats docked at ports. In Madrid, demonstrators handed out 20 tons of fish in a bid to win support from the public. In Spain, the European Union's most-important producer of fish, the fishing confederation estimates fuel prices have gone up 320% in the last five years -- so high that many fishermen can no longer afford to take their boats out.
French fishermen and farmers, who need fuel for trawlers and tractors, say their livelihoods are threatened by soaring prices and have blocked oil terminals around France and shipping traffic on the English Channel to demand government help.
Support for LAist comes from
Don't forget that high gas prices also have an effect on the prices of things like food -- high energy costs and demand for biofuels are driving the prices of things like wheat and vegetable oil up as well. Although the striking French truckers are pulling crazy Gallic tricks like blockading major roadways with slow-driving trucks, at least most Europeans have reliable forms of public transportation to keep them moving -- what happens when the same thing happens in L.A.? Photo by Chrissy Olson via Flickr.
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity. -
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
-
Monarch butterflies are on a path to extinction, but there is a way to support them — and maybe see them in your own yard — by planting milkweed.
-
With California voters facing a decision on redistricting this November, Surf City is poised to join the brewing battle over Congressional voting districts.
-
The drug dealer, the last of five defendants to plead guilty to federal charges linked to the 'Friends' actor’s death, will face a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.
-
The weather’s been a little different lately, with humidity, isolated rain and wind gusts throughout much of Southern California. What’s causing the late-summer bout of gray?
Best of LAist