As I am sure most IGHIH readers are aware, the skyrocketing oil prices have driven diesel and gas prices up to unprecedented levels. In the U.S, it is the working class, especially in the rural south, who are being hit most severely by the average cost of fuel, which is around $4 a gallon. It’s not just U.S. workers who are being impacted by these skyrocketing prices however, as the cost of fuel is also rising around the world.
Europe has always had higher gas prices than the U.S, but in the past year European consumers have seen a dramatic increase in fuel costs. In Spain, truckers are no longer breaking even with diesel at almost $9 a gallon, and have launched a coordinated direct action campaign to protest this economic hardship and pressure the government to take action. Yesterday, truckers organized a blockade of Spain’s border with France. Check out the NYTimes article 
Mass actions such as this highlight the desperate economic situation which many working class people, both in the U.S. and abroad find themselves in, trapped in a petroleum based economy with the cost of fuel continually escalating. Oil is predicted to reach a record high price of $150 per barrel, which will continue to impact lower income and working class people the hardest. To me, this is another example of energy injustice, and further highlights the need to quickly transition to a clean, just, affordable energy future.
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This is great! The reality is that for us to actually create real change we have to do more than just talk. Change happens when people get out on the streets, take direct action, and not let those in power continue business as usual.
Check out a great research paper from the University of Washington illuminating this fact. The paper shows the history of environmental policy victories in the US, and how in years when protests movements were active, policy was won.
http://www.policyagendas.org/pdf/agnone_paper1.pdf