Read our editorials on the US-Israeli war against Iran here and here.
The average nationwide cost of a gallon of diesel reached over $6.50 for the first time earlier this week, up 77% from last year.
Diesel and gasoline prices have skyrocketed since US imperialism and Israel launched their criminal war of aggression against Iran in late February. Iran has been defending its national sovereignty in part by blockading the Strait of Hormuz—through which about 20% of the world’s oil and gas passed through—and attacks on energy facilities in the region tied to US imperialism.
Additionally, the Ukrainian military reports it destroyed 45% of Russia’s oil refining capacity through recent drone attacks in September.
US imperialism is the main culprit behind rising prices and continued inflation across all sectors of the economy, shifting cost burdens of its war onto workers and the petty bourgeoisie as oil monopolies cash in.
An Uber and Lyft driver in Minnesota told Fox 9 in May, “You have to consider, as a driver, I am responsible for my gas. I’m responsible for tires, brake, insurance has skyrocketed.”
Farmers across the country have been voicing their frustration with higher costs to fuel their equipment. One farmer told monopoly media, “We have to harvest. We have to run the machines. We have to use diesel, so it cuts into our bottom line.”
A truck driver in Georgia told WALB News 10, “Everything we have is delivered by a truck, and if the prices of fuel keep going up, then everything in the stores, everything is going to go up.”
“Just imagine everything going up except your pay,” another truck driver said.
Some truck drivers have called for a strike on October 1 in response to the punishing costs. One trucker posted on Instagram, “These gas companies, they find an excuse to jack the prices up. Why don’t the politicians care about that? They’re getting their pockets filled, both Republicans and Democrats. They don’t care about us.”
Protests against diesel prices erupted in recent weeks in Syria and Bolivia, while transportation workers organized road blockages in Guatemala and carried out a two-day strike in the Philippines.
Meanwhile, the two largest US oil monopolies, Exxon Mobil and Chevron, made their highest quarterly profits in four years and six years, respectively, over the summer.
Republicans in several states are pushing for a temporary US diesel export ban ahead of the midterm electoral farce, claiming it will reduce prices. The idea recently gained traction with Trump, who is deliberating a 90-day export ban and said any potential issues would be “a December problem”, an oil executive told Politico, implying the ban would just be in effect long enough to help Republican performance in the midterms.
Oil monopolies have strongly lobbied against such a ban, claiming that they would reduce production in response, resulting in elevated prices long-term in their pursuit for maximum profits. Energy Secretary Chris Wright suggested that the so-called export ban would likely be “entirely voluntary”.
Image Credit: Goose Green Photography, retrieved from Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-4.0).
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