The devastation and flooding of Hurricane Katrina had barely begun to wane before protesters were gathering with their signs and slogans complaining about the storm-associated rise in prices for gasoline, fuel oil and such.

To nobody’s surprise, energy prices spiked to record levels as there was growing evidence that the hurricane’s impact would affect adversely any individual or business that relies on petroleum-based energy. While there were, and are, some instances of immediate price-gouging, for the most part, the evidence that we all will be paying higher prices for gasoline, fuel oil and the like was clear and unavoidable.

The federal government has decided to tap into petroleum reserves and that should help ease the situation. But crude oil production and refinement for American sources is going to be affected for a long time, and the nation’s economy is going to be hurt despite the opportunities for profits from those rebuilding in hard-hit regions.

“We can now describe this as a fuel crisis and specifically in regard to gasoline,” said Tom Kloza, senior analyst of the Oil Price Information Service. “We are no longer dealing with anything resembling stability in the supply sector.” He predicts that retail gasoline prices will jump in increments of 20 to 75 cents a gallon over the next few weeks.

Katrina ravaged an area where a third of U.S. oil and natural gas are produced. The results will hit consumers hard. There are power and water problems not to mention the dangers of disease. Where will so many refugees find reasonable security and solace? Picket signs are going to help that?

Yet almost before anyone has taken into account that this is a natural disaster over which nobody had control, we saw mindless protesters trying to gain attention because fuel prices are up and rising. How long before some of them are charging that the White House and President George W. Bush had something to do with the storm and its aftermath?

The reaction of the sign-carriers regarding the fuel supply crisis is all too typical of the way some use any opportunity to call attention to themselves. It is unfortunate that fuel prices are up and rising, that supplies are badly weakened and that serious, long-lasting damage has been done to many communities and people. But sign-carrying and chanting will do nothing to right what is wrong and get millions of suffering people back to even a semblance of normalcy.

How hard up are some people for crusade and politically motivated opportunities? Even more important, just what are they doing to help somebody besides themselves?