A new environmental campaign group have said they have ‘plans to scale up the action massively’ after deflating the tyres of hundreds of SUVs in cities across the country, including Sheffield.
Tyre Extinguishers first took action last Monday and have targeted SUVs, which are generally known for being larger than average and having features like four-wheel drive and high ground clearance.
A spokesperson from the Tyre Extinguishers said: “We have plans to scale up the action massively, and we expect many others to see what we’ve done and follow our example.
Research from the International Energy Agency in 2019 found that SUVs contributed more carbon emissions than heavy industry, planes or trucks.
Campaigners left this letter on the cars whose tyres they deflated.
The group was inspired by a similar activist collective in Sweden, called ‘The Indians of the Concrete Jungle’, who targeted SUVs in the same way.
The Tyre Extinguishers spokesperson said: “We’re doing this because politely asking for change has not worked.
“Politicians are totally unwilling to take action on polluting vehicles which are choking our lungs, destroying our climate and clogging our streets.”
Social media users have expressed mixed feelings about the activism, with many saying that vandalism is never acceptable, and others celebrating action being taken.
Pete Hazzard, a Sheffield-based Land Rover owner, said: “Unless there’s hundreds of the muppets doing it and targeting the same 4×4 over and over again, then it won’t become a big enough inconvenience to get people to change their vehicles.”
The Tyre Extinguishers spokesperson said: “We believe in collective action but there comes a point, if individuals are driving hugely polluting, totally unnecessary vehicles, that individuals have responsibility.”
