S8 Ep639: PREVIEW FOR LATER: This audio transcript details a growing energy crisis impacting rural Franceand urban Germany, characterized by rapidly rising costs and dwindling supplies. Reports from the Frenchcountryside highlight that diesel fuel, which is essenti

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John Batchelor

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🗓️ 25 March 2026

⏱️ 2 minutes

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Summary

PREVIEW FOR LATER: This audio transcript details a growing energy crisis impacting rural Franceand urban Germany, characterized by rapidly rising costs and dwindling supplies. Reports from the Frenchcountryside highlight that diesel fuel, which is essential for agricultural machinery and local transport, has reached an staggering eight dollars per gallon. These financial burdens are compounded by physical shortages, with local filling stations increasingly unable to provide diesel or premium gasoline to consumers. The situation is described as an energy war, reflecting the severity of the price spikes compared to lower rates typically seen in the United States. Ultimately, the source illustrates a precarious economic environment where essential fuel types are becoming both unaffordable and physically unavailable. (1)
1916 TEXAS

Transcript

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0:00.0	Speaking with my colleague Simon Constable in the south of France in farm country,
0:05.6	national rally country, Le Pen country, surrounded by farmers looking for diesel fuel for their tractors and farm instruments.
0:15.4	Simon reports on the price up over the last week's much up, $8 a gallon translation in America.
0:25.5	But the shortages now go from one pump out at the local station to two.
0:32.7	Simon explains and no diesel, Simon explains.
0:36.7	Much more of this tonight.
0:40.5	Shortages and price spikes.
0:43.0	An energy war.
0:45.4	It's approximately $8 per gallon of diesel fuel, which is what most of us use in this area of the country. So that's really
0:56.1	quite eye-popping, and it would be even more eye-popping for people in the US where petrol prices,
1:03.8	gasoline prices are a lot, lot lower. I mentioned that I spoke with Berlin 24 hours hence,
1:09.7	and it's 219 euros in Berlin, so it's more expensive
1:14.4	than it's in the countryside. But do you have shortages? Last week, a pump was out.
1:19.8	And this week, two pumps are out. So one of the two filling stations in the local village
1:27.3	now only sells gasoline and not premium gasoline, but just plain old gasoline, no diesel fuel.
1:37.7	So that really is a shortage for people, and given that most people have diesel fuel in their vehicles.

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