[Tyre Extinguishers say ‘climate disaster’ vehicles targeted
in nine countries including the UK, France and Canada .]
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600 SUVS ‘DISARMED’ IN ONE NIGHT  
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Damien Gayle
September 7, 2022
The Guardian
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_ Tyre Extinguishers say ‘climate disaster’ vehicles targeted in
nine countries including the UK, France and Canada . _

A member of the Tyre Extinguishers in New York deflating a tyre in
July, utharat Pinyodoonyachet/The Guardian

 

The climate activist group the Tyre Extinguishers has claimed its
largest night of action yet against SUVs, with more than 600 vehicles
“disarmed” across nine countries.

Over the night marking six months since the launch of the campaign,
which encourages people to covertly deflate the tyres of SUVs,
activists took action in the UK, France, Germany, Switzerland, the
Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, the Czech Republic and Canada.

“Courageous citizens all over the world last night … deflated
tyres on at least 600 SUVs, exactly two months before the opening of
the United Nations Cop27 climate summit in Egypt,” the Tyre
Extinguishers said. The group said the total was likely to rise, with
more reports of actions expected.

“The movement have now deflated tyres on around 9,000 SUVs in cities
across the world since March, striking continuously, and look set to
surpass their goal of 10,000 SUVs deflated by Christmas,” the
statement added.

The group has said its aim is “to make it impossible to own an SUV
in the world’s urban areas”, condemning the vehicles as
“unnecessary ‘luxury emissions’, flaunted by the wealthy, that
are a climate disaster, cause air pollution and make our roads more
dangerous”.

It points to research published in 2019 by the International Energy
Agency that found SUVs were the second largest cause of the global
rise in carbon dioxide emissions over the past decade. But the group
also opposes electric SUVs “on the grounds that they are still
unsafe in urban areas”.

The campaign is coordinated via a website that hosts instructions on
using lentils or other pulses to jam open the valves on SUV tyres,
slowly deflating them. They call on activists to conduct night-time
sabotage raids and to leave on the windscreen of each vehicle a
leaflet explaining to the owner why they have been targeted.

Among the SUV owners who have fallen victim to the campaign are John
Browne, the former chief executive of BP, and the EastEnders actor
Jessie Wallace, who posted a photo of the letter left for her by
activists on Instagram [[link removed]],
commenting: “These arseholes should be locked up.”

A source in the Metropolitan police said the force was unable to
confirm Tyre Extinguishers’ claims to have launched actions in
London. Inquiries within the force had turned up no paperwork about
the group, he said. There was a question as to whether deflating a car
tyre without damaging it was even a crime.

The move towards covert action marks a shift from the stance of
Extinction Rebellion, Just Stop Oil and other recent climate
campaigns, which have called on members to stand accountable for any
potentially illegal actions, with their arrests and subsequent
prosecutions an integral part of their protest strategy.

“The climate movement hasn’t made enough use of covert tactics so
far,” said a Tyre Extinguishers spokesperson. “Ultimately we want
to show people that sabotage to save lives is legitimate and that we
need far more of it. If the polluters won’t stop polluting because
we ask politely, we protest, we take conventional direct action - then
what is left?”

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