Tyres of 900 SUVs deflated in ‘biggest ever action’ by Tyre Extinguishers
Guerrilla activists target vehicles across Europe, warning of ‘many more’ such nights to come
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Your support makes all the difference.Environmental activist group Tyre Extinguishers claim to have deflated wheels on 900 SUVs in what they called their “largest-ever night of action”.
The guerrilla group said they had targeted vehicles in seven countries across Europe and in New York on Monday night.
“This is the biggest coordinated global action against high-carbon vehicles in history, with many more to come,” the group said in a statement.
This included nearly 140 cars in London, 121 in Leeds, 20 in Dundee and 60 in Bristol, with activists also targeting SUVs in Sweden, France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands.
Since emerging in March, the decentralised group claim to have deflated the wheels of more than 10,000 vehicles, and claims to be aware of roughly 100 autonomous groups across the world taking action against SUVs.
“The aim is to make it impossible to own an SUV in the world’s urban areas,” it said, adding: “The Tyre Extinguishers want to see bans on SUVs in urban areas, pollution levies to tax SUVs out of existence, and massive investment in free, comprehensive public transport.
“But until politicians make this a reality, Tyre Extinguishers action will continue.”
The activists warn that SUVs are “a disaster for our climate”, citing intergovernmental research which found that growing demand for the vehicles was the second-largest contributor to the increase in global carbon dioxide emissions between 2010 to 2018 – ahead of shipping and aviation.
Activists are encouraged by the group to “target posh/middle-class areas” and leave leaflets on deflated vehicles explaining to their owners why they have been targeted.
Tom Haworth, with Yorkshire Ambulance Service, posted a picture of one such leaflet on Tuesday morning, captioned: “Congratulations. You've successfully managed to deflate the tyres of an emergency vehicle.” It was unclear whether the vehicle was marked as such.
Tyre Extinguishers are one of a number of groups engaging in a brand of climate activism which increasingly seeks to disrupt “business-as-usual” and often inconveniences members of the public, as desperation grows over official efforts to avert disastrous levels of global heating.
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