Eco-activists leave wealthy car owners deflated

Photo: Tyre Extinguishers

In recent days an environmental group called “The Tyre Extinguishers” have been making headlines for deflating the tyres of Sport Utility Vehicles (SUV) in wealthy urban areas.

The group claim they are doing this as SUVs are a “climate disaster”, and their aim is to “make it impossible to own a huge polluting 4x4 in the world’s urban areas.”

They have targeted areas in some of London’s most exclusive postcodes including Belgravia, Chelsea and Notting Hill. On last Monday alone (7th March) the newly formed group deflated around 200 tyres of SUVs in the Brighton area.

It proved tricky to get an interview with this secretive group, but they agreed to answer some of my questions via Twitter.

When asked whether what they were doing was a criminal offence, their answer was short and stark: “We are prepared to risk arrest and punishment to bring urban SUVs to an end. SUVs are a climate disaster. If SUV drivers were a nation they'd be the seventh-biggest polluter on Earth. We are acting to defend ourselves and those impacted the hardest by climate change… climate change is the inescapable issue here.”

I also asked whether they are endangering people’s safety by making their cars unroadworthy. Their replay was that “accidents are very unlikely” and to date, there had been no reports of any accidents as a result of this activity. They also went on to say that they “leave leaflets to inform the driver of what has happened.”

Photo: Tyre Extinguishers

The group even has its own dedicated page on how to locate and deflate an SUV tyre, and they remind people to “target posh/middle-class areas.” Their activity has caused some

outrage on Twitter, with one user claiming they “can only drive SUV type vehicles due to disabilities.”

How bad are SUVs for the environment?

Photo: Unsplash

Despite the growing popularity of electric vehicles, SUVs still remain popular. According to analysis carried out by the ‘New Scientist’, “SUVs consume 20 per cent more energy per kilometre than a medium-sized car.” And while emissions from standard cars are falling “emissions from SUVs has risen by more than 500 megatonnes.” A study carried out by the ‘International Energy Agency’ claimed that the increasing demand for SUVs was the biggest contributor to the growth in carbon emissions. In fact, experts claim that the boom in SUV sales is cancelling out the progress in reducing emissions made by the sales of electric vehicles.

What are the police doing?

Speaking to the BBC, a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said that they are “aware of a statement by Tyre Extinguisher alleging damage to vehicles at various locations in London.” They went on to say "we ask that reports of this nature are made through the Met's website and we will assess these to establish whether offences have been committed. At this time, we are not aware of any investigations being launched."