Tyre Extinguishers: New Militant Group Puts the ‘Mental’ into Environmentalist. Or Do They?

What does Automologist and SUV-owner, MAC, have to say about them? 

A new offshoot of Extinction Rebellion, that really annoying group of middle-class climate warriors with too much time on their hands, have been making themselves known of late by randomly roaming the streets of London and deflating the tyres of SUVs. According to the notes they are leaving on the SUVs, they are called ‘Tyre Extinguishers’ and they are trying to make it impossible to own an SUV in urban areas, or at least in Chelsea, Chiswick, Notting Hill and Belgravia, which, if you didn’t know, are all upmarket areas of West London.

This is believed to be the first action by this rather shadowy group that roam London’s nighttime streets, but according to a statement from the group, this is just a start. The statement said that the group is demanding a ban on SUVs in urban areas and general pollution levies designed at taxing them out of existence, with the proceeds of the tax being channelled into public transport infrastructure development.

In the UK, SUVs in London have the pejorative nickname of Chelsea tractors and are typified by being big and bulky and four-wheel drive. Tyre Extinguishers may have a point. A study published by the International Energy Agency has cited the demand for SUVs as being the biggest contributor to growth in carbon emissions, with an estimate of SUVs currently producing 700 mega-tonnes of CO2 annually, which if it were a country, would be the 7th worst for carbon emissions.

SUVs have attracted a lot of criticism from activists for being too thirsty, too polluting and too big. Back in 2019, in Sweden, activists there tried a similar action which did result in a reduction in the number of SUVs being sold. I, for one, own an urban SUV. It has never and will never be taken off-road and I am aware that it is a little big and bulky. But here is the rub, I have just changed out my wife’s car and wanted to go for an EV – the trouble is, though, my home electricity supply was not stable enough to support a fast-charging station at home, so I would have to trickle charge via a normal plug socket. So, sorry. The guzzlers stay for now.