The BP station on Stanstead Road has/had no fuel

Just noticed as I went past - the pumps are all blocked off. I wonder if it’s just a blip or due to the fuel protests? The Esso up by Horniman seems ok.

I am currently in Norfolk on holiday and all of the BP stations have run out of fuel here. I was panicking about how I’m going to get enough fuel to drive back to London but shell and Esso have fuel so I’m guessing its something to do with BP deliveries!

Presumably related to this:

According to Zap-Map it does have fuel. Just not the fossil stuff

I had to go three petrol stations on the way back from Sussex yesterday to get unleaded. The guy in the third garage said it “wasn’t as bad as the last time” but supplies are patchy due to the protests and they have been running empty before they get restocked. Unsurprisingly the chains with cheaper prices are selling out more.

My daughter had to buy super unleaded yesterday at Bell Geeen Sainsbury’s. She wasn’t pleased as you don’t get as much for your money, even though it is supposed to be better for your car.
The attendant there said they were expecting a delivery yesterday, but whether it got there or not…
It’s extinction rebellion again isn’t it? Glueing themselves to tankers, including two Olympians!

No. The disruptions have been occuring outside of London for some time, well before XR started these blockades.

The same so called “Olympians” have been carrying out dangerous and moronic acts at refineries for some time.

One of them won gold, so it’s more Olympian than ‘Olympian’

Winning a medal at an Olympics does not make you a God - of Olympus or anywhere (other than in Stott’s sad little ego and some bad journalism). Hence “so called Olympian”.

Correct. Becoming a world leader in a sport doesn’t morph you into an ancient fictional deity.
However in modern parlance it does make you an Olympian

From the people that brought you “medalling”. In this case, they seem to have created hypocritical pratts, who do see themselves as Olympians in the Godlike traditional sense.

These people have travelled the world. Their competitive days are over. They’ve had their 15 mins. No public or lottery money is now paying for their jetsetting (though did I read that Baldwin has some sort of Volvo sponsorship?) and they resent others travelling. Baldwin is especially against cruise ships too and does her utmost to ruin people’s holidays as well as their livelihoods

You might disagree with their political ideals (or their method of going about them), but please don’t diminish their sporting achievements.

I’m not sure it’s fair to call them hypocrites – I’d imagine travelling the world gives one an opportunity to observe quite how much trouble it’s in environmentally

I didn’t belittle their past sporting achievements.

Laura Baldwin got a nice living out of coaching around the world and Etienne Stott was part of a two man canoe team that won a medal. I’m sure they were glad of the huge sponsorship and lottery funding that enabled them to concentrate on that.

But others have to work for a living and they are now using their past glory and 15mins of fame to publicise their disruptive behaviour.

I won’t belittle their past achievements. But they shouldn’t bring them into disrepute.

Nonetheless, the fuel shortage predates the concentrated XR.

A worldwide shortage on diesel was emerging at the beginning of the year, the anticipated ban of red diesel on 1 April caused a new exogenous pressure on domestic supply and Ukraine has had an impact. XR is only the latest in a long string of factors.

XR has been targetting of refineries since they began. Even if you allow for the fact that they upped the ante a couple of weeks ago, they are not enough yo cause this.

Agreed they’re not enough to cause this. But their actions are dangerous, disruptive to people’s day to day lives and livelihoods. They damage property. They even flew a drone over an oil refinery. That was stupid and put people’s lives at risk.

There is a discussion to be had about the relative dangers of their conduct and the conduct of other players in the energy sector, but, respectfully, this seems to be changing the goalposts from “XR caused the fuel shortage” to “XR are bad regardless”.

For the avoidance of doubt, I’m not a supporter or detractor of them. Part of my job involves analysis of the impact of these pressure groups and other factors. That requires me to be dispassionate.

XR’s actions are contributing to the fuel crisis, albeit in a small way. Yes, they’re just one, very minor irritant in the overall scale of these things, but a big inconvenience to those individual tanker drivers and others they’ve picked on.

But I’ll bow out of this chain now.

I think we are agreed they have an impact, just disagreeing on the disproportionate focus on their conduct as opposed to the other factors that are having a more significant impact. But I get that you really don’t like them and are angry about what they are doing.

I would consider it forwarning of things to come if we don’t invest more in renewal technology and cut down on our addiction to private transport. Those fossil fuels will not last for ever and increasing scarcity will be very difficult for people if we don’t sort ourselves out.

The disruption must be very annoying and even damaging to those directly affected. But they’re doing it to keep the spotlight on an industry that has been, continues to be, and seems to be projected to remain, catastrophically destructive to the planet.

I work in sustainability, at one point with an energy company. I have seen figures that keep me awake at night.

I can’t reconcile the bile and hatred towards the protesters, when it’s the companies and industries they’re protesting against who are ruining the planet for generations present and future. Of course people are angry at disruption. But without change at the top, we’re on track for disaster. It’s easy to demonise protesters. Just read up. But the protesters aren’t the true villains. They’re not signing the cheques or granting the approvals firmly holding us back from finding and developing alt energy solutions. They’re not building cruise ships that decimate marine habitats as they plough the oceans (ships from which more than a third of passengers don’t even bother disembarking when they reach their destinations).

And no, we can’t turn off the oil tap overnight. But we should be doing so much more to find those alternatives. Instead we’re just digging more holes, drilling more seabeds. I find it heartbreaking. I don’t like all their methods, but at least they’re doing something. If only the right people cared enough to take notice.

End of rant.

Cruise ships are horrific for the environment and the host areas.

We took a small boat trip around the Med coast when staying in a French fishing town near Montpelier. We left via its large, still industrial harbour, where cruise ships sometimes stopped to rest or refuel en route to Spain. These things are absolute beasts, dominating the landscape and not giving much back to the areas they visit.

I’ve often wondered how long they stop in a harbour to allow local vendors and businesses to fully benefit from the trade made from passengers’ purses. I’ve never been on a cruise but from what I’ve seen on TV and elsewhere they only allow passengers to disembark and roam around for a few hours, which doesn’t seem to justify their presence.

That was also my understanding but I could be wrong.

Depends on the cruise. Plenty have overnight stops in ports and long days ashore. In fact ports are desperate to attract cruise ships because of the huge benefits to the local economy, not only from the holidaymakers directly, but from port fees and services such as provisions. Certainly a much more pleasant way to travel than by plane and - given the numbers involved - I suspect not much more damaging to the environment per head. Of course the least polluting form of holiday is to stay home but probably of less benefit to the economy and employment rates.

Each to their own. Couldn’t pay me to go on a cruise, not a fan of an organised holiday, even lesa so one that involves being stuck at sea with the same people.

We tend to go by train wherever we can.

I love sleeper trains. But I hate the loos!

I agree about being stuck with the same people. But most cruise lines don’t do the “sit with the same people at dinner” table thing nowadays. And I’d never have gotten to some of the little places I went to with Hurtigruten a few winters back - they’re cut off to all but ice breaker ships.

That would so restricting though, no?

Well we tend to holiday regularly in France, Spain and Italy - all easy by train. London to Marseille is 6 hours direct.

Obviously we don’t completely eschew flying, for longer distances or shorter breaks by try to use the train wherever practical.

Fair play to you and I never knew how fast the connection between the UK and the French Riviera was/is.

In all honesty, the only times I’ve ever driven long distance to a holiday destination has been the Alps when I’ve been skiing. I’m not a very good skier (pretty shit) but I go because my aunt is Swiss and my cousins always advised me to drive due to how high the hire costs are and that you need a motor anyway to get about because the chalet is two thirds of the way up a peak in excess of three thousand metres.

The first sleeper train I was on was Glasgow to Euston in the early 1970s.

It had a chamber pot that you tipped into a little cubby hole onto the tracks.

The direct Eurostar is a beautiful thing. Get on at St Pancras after breakfast, spend the morning speeding through Kent and France and end up in Marseille St Charles for a late lunch.

Wow! Interesting to know.