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[Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>]

. . . "Matters are no better on land. On Tuesday, hundreds of British  
truck drivers in London and Cardiff brought traffic to a crawl in a  
campaign to get their government to lower taxes on diesel fuel, which  
now costs over $11 per U.S. gallon (3.8 liters). Other businesses  
owners who rely heavily on gas use — including farmers, ambulance and  
taxi drivers, and private bus companies — have joined the protest  
movement or are preparing to do so.
"Those labor protests reflect the hit millions of Europeans are taking  
at the gas pump. As American drivers groan over prices nearing $4 a  
gallon, the French are paying $8.67 for a gallon of super, compared to  
$7.10 in January, 2007. A gallon of diesel in French gas stations  
averages $8.54, up from $5.35 just a year ago. And in the U.K. diesel  
costs $11.50 per gallon, compared to around $3.90 in the U.S. Across  
the European Union, the average cost of a gallon of gas runs to about  
$8.70 — more than twice what Americans are shelling out to fill up.  
And Europe's dizzying fuel costs would be even worse if it weren't for  
the considerable appreciation of the euro and the British pound  
against the dollar over the past year, which has partially offset the  
price escalation in dollar-traded oil." . . . .
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1809900,00.html