Tyre Extinguishers, a British group whose preferred method of fighting climate change is to deflate the tires of large vehicles, says it let the air out of the tires of 43 vehicles on Beacon Hill last night.
The group took this action to render the large greenhouse gas emitting vehicles unusable, directly preventing the outpouring of emission from the vehicles into our atmosphere which further contribute to climate change and air pollution. Only large, luxury, gas powered SUVs were targeted by the group; no tires were deflated on electric or hybrid vehicles nor any vehicles with handicap signage. The group left leaflets on the cars to inform the owners about why their vehicle was impacted, imploring them to stop using their SUVs and switch to public transportation, biking, or smaller compact electric and hybrid cars.
Rather than slicing open tires, participants use lentil seeds or similar:
When you drop a lentil in a valve stem cap and screw the cap back on, the air will slowly leak out of the tire.
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Comments
We need more of this!
By Rwgfy
Thu, 04/20/2023 - 12:21pm
We need more of this!
The T agrees
By BostonDog
Thu, 04/20/2023 - 1:16pm
The MBTA has long shown solidarity by immobilizing their own vehicles.
As an environmentalist type,
By what what now?
Thu, 04/20/2023 - 12:45pm
I imagine that this could escalate to people doing the same, or worse, to EVs and hybrids.
The notion of an undeclared "Civil War" could identify the "other side" by the kind of vehicle they drive.
While I don't like to see big gas-guzzling and polluting vehicles out and about, targeting them like this will lead to retribution and, completely innocent car owners will be victimized by association.
“Innocentâ€
By Bostoneer
Thu, 04/20/2023 - 3:53pm
Choosing to spend more money than an average car to drive the single most polluting and dangerous type of vehicle for others isn’t exactly “innocent.â€
somebody has to do something about
By Luke Warmer
Thu, 04/20/2023 - 12:55pm
all our various social issues, but it seems the people who could won't and so we are going into a period of prolonged vigilantism for ever. and I am definitely not looking forward to it. once the chaos is truly loosed on the land it will become its own economy, will become entrenched, and will not be easy retract it.
the world seems divided into people who would completely deny what I just said, and on the other hand those who would vehemently endorse it as the correct course of action.
not fun.
So…..
By John Costello
Thu, 04/20/2023 - 1:18pm
If I deflate property of British people in the Boston area because of their continued occupation of Northern Ireland, we are cool, right?
Sure!
By Transphobia Watch
Thu, 04/20/2023 - 2:30pm
The movement being reported on here is specifically targeting those who have personally demonstrated certain harmful choices, rather than dismantling structures.
However, if you are advocating for the inconveniencing of those who benefit from structural privilege, that gets a bit more complicated, but it is also a noble goal, and it's about time you recognized it rather than just your usual shtick of casual sexism and insisting that white people are oppressed.
So, you would need to target white people, who benefit from and perpetuate worldwide structural racism.
You would also need to include abled people, cisgender people, Christians, men, heterosexual people, among others, as these people also benefit from and perpetuate structural systems of oppression.
Not all of these people have vehicles though, so you'll probably need to focus your activism somewhere else. The solution that works the best at this time seems to be recognizing structural oppression, calling it out, and taking steps to include those who are structurally excluded. Let people know that occupying others' lands is wrong. Let people know that systems that favor some groups over others are wrong. Acknowledge the privileges you have and take steps to include the people who are often passed over in favor of your groups.
Please….
By John Costello
Thu, 04/20/2023 - 3:36pm
Go lick pavement.
Please ...
By SwirlyGrrl
Thu, 04/20/2023 - 8:15pm
Consider that your glib statements will wither under scruitiny.
Recent polling data suggests you
By MC Slim JB
Thu, 04/20/2023 - 2:41pm
do not understand the low level of support for a United Ireland in Northern Ireland.
Yes,
By John Costello
Thu, 04/20/2023 - 3:50pm
But I righteously disagree with those people. Therefore I feel that I am allowed to take action against others who disagree with me.
These deflators are justifying their actions with their self imposed righteousness.
Anarchy is a two way street. That thought process is lost sometimes on people who blindly see their own beliefs as paramount.
I can’t stand SUV’s either. The fastest way to watch your trip get slower is putting your Dodge Ram or F150 within a few feet behind me on the highway. Nevertheless, don’t touch my stuff unless you want reciprocal and measured retaliation.
Stop being an idiot, John -
By Rob
Sun, 04/23/2023 - 8:01pm
Stop being an idiot, John - those other idiots got here first, they're working this gas-lamped, curb-ramped corner of Beacon Hill, so you gotta hit the road.
When you do hit the road, remember that obstructionist driving is aggressive driving, and illegal same as tailgating in most states.
What a dumb, puerile thing to
By anon
Thu, 04/20/2023 - 2:54pm
What a dumb, puerile thing to do.
No one noticed them ?
By anon
Thu, 04/20/2023 - 3:42pm
B.H. is infested with security cams.
Has this actually changed anybody's mind?
By NoMoreBanks
Thu, 04/20/2023 - 4:46pm
I get that sometimes groups need to take direct action when the slow wheels of the law have locked up and there's no path forward. But I just can't imagine there's a single person out there who already owns an SUV (and, in this case, is enough of a hardass or a masochist to park their SUV in Beacon Hill everyday) who finds their car immobilized when, presumably, they've otherwise about to use it, reads a pamphlet, and has a come to god moment about buying a hybrid.
If there's testimony to the contrary I'd love to see it but I just suspect the vast majority of these people either sigh and call a tow/AAA and get on with their day, and a minority get pissed and further entrenched in the "fuck you, my car is mine, stupid activists" attitude.
Like is this intended to change the minds of bystanders??? People walking by seeing the flat tires and read the pamphlet and go DANG next car I buy will be electric? Or what. It rewards people driving small cars, I guess, but they were already on your side. What is the goal here in terms of actually affecting real change vis a vis public opinion? Or is this all just stomping feet and lashing out?
I can think of more effective
By anon
Fri, 04/21/2023 - 6:02pm
I can think of more effective ways to protest.
Picket outside an SUV dealership. Hold a rally at the statehouse or EPA headquarters when climate legislation is being debated. Protest outside the Lexington town meeting that they should stop approving so many office parks with poor or nonexistent transit and pedestrian access. Speak at a Boston MPO meeting and ask them to get serious about transit expansion and curbing car-oriented development in the suburbs. Picket MassDOT headquarters and tell them to install sidewalks in the suburbs and plow them, and think about how someone on foot or a bicycle (or mass transit, if they ever start running it) is supposed to handle Route 1 or 9 where it can be miles between crossing opportunities.
Whelp
By SwirlyGrrl
Fri, 04/21/2023 - 6:16pm
It has clearly changed the minds of those who have looked to Europe for inspiration.
Gets a whole lot of attention, too.
What you
By Luke Warmer
Thu, 04/20/2023 - 4:57pm
Don't want to fail to understand about anarchy and chaos is that what will sustain them for a long wretched period of time is that...
the vile combo come to represent investment opportunities.
Try not to be so much of an egghead that you fail recognize the depth of that dilemma. Macro level it is already going on with private equity funding death squads. It just gets close and closer
And closer and closer......and so on. Use your imagyfor something other than your next Dunks purchase for a min.
Last week’s Economist
By dvg
Thu, 04/20/2023 - 5:35pm
Last week’s Economist magazine (not a tree hugging publication) had an article about the upcoming climate for the 700 million people (twice the US pop.) living in northern India and Pakistan and Bangladesh. Quote “The Indo-Gangetic Plain, which extends from the spine of Pakistan through northern India to the deltas of Bangladesh, is home to 700m people and exceptionally vulnerable to the heat pulses that climate change is making more frequent. It is one of the hottest, poorest and most populous places on Earth."
In these parts where folks have contributed very little to climate change, wet bulb temp (temp + humidity) is getting alarmingly deadly. That's only one of the many consequences of mindlessly sending so much carbon in the atmosphere.
Sorry, I got distracted from the most important issue of the day; the ethics of deflating SUV’s tires on Beacon Hill!
https://www.economist.com/asia/2023/04/02/global-w...
They have instructions on how to deflate a tire
By robo
Thu, 04/20/2023 - 7:32pm
Their members/supporters must not be the sharpest tools in the toolbox.
if you live on Beacon Hill, you don't need a car
By cinnamngrl
Fri, 04/21/2023 - 9:39am
It is in the center of the city and all the public transportation.
Bwah-ha-ha!!!
By Rob
Fri, 04/21/2023 - 12:20pm
Bwah-ha-ha!!!
People actually need cars for the places they want/need to go that aren't served(, or served reliably, or served economically, or served practically) by public transportation. Like a lot of places not in the city. And a lot of places IN the city.
If you can write stretchers like that with a straight face, maybe you can get a job doing PR for Trump 2024 - they could certainly use the upgrade.
you make no sense
By cinnamngrl
Fri, 04/21/2023 - 4:55pm
Why would you pay Beacon Hill prices if you don't work in Boston? You need to go to work, school, Food shopping and the doctor's office. All of those things are in Beacon Hill within walking distance. About a million options in Boston steps from public transportation. You don't need a car to get to anywhere in Suffolk County.
I'm not saying that wouldn't leave boston, but its optional. You may want a car while you live in Beacon Hill, but you don't need one. That's a big part of the point of choosing Beacon Hill. It is wasteful and excessive to own a big SUV and park it on the street there.
Not about making sense
By SwirlyGrrl
Fri, 04/21/2023 - 5:26pm
All about how we are supposed to be impressed with the degree to which Robo wastes money on excessive and showy things, and then gets all huffy when we point out how useless their toys are and how pretentious they are.
Just look back through the posting history and note how many times "porsche" gets thrown in. Or "cars" plural.
Of course, like any of us unknown to others in real life, we could be dealing with someone who is entirely making all of it up.
Lol, you missed a letter
By robo
Fri, 04/21/2023 - 7:18pm
Need a new prescription or something? I wasn’t the OP. Keep hating though, Karen.
Aww
By SwirlyGrrl
Fri, 04/21/2023 - 7:46pm
That's nice, hon. I'll pray for you.
Wow.
By Rob
Sat, 04/22/2023 - 1:42pm
Wow.
It's possible to live & work in the city and have friends & family & interests & obligations NOT in the city. The age of the Brahmin ended a while back, Cin - the horizons of life extend beyond the limits of the Boston Globe Society Column.
And what part of there being places not served by public transportation - either "at all" or merely "practically, economically, and/or reliably" - is so hard to understand?
sounds very optional. And
By cinnamngrl
Mon, 04/24/2023 - 8:54am
sounds very optional. And again, if you can afford to live in Beacon Hill, you can afford may ways of travel without killing the planet.
A friend of mine who lives in
By NoMoreBanks
Mon, 04/24/2023 - 9:50am
A friend of mine who lives in the city (not Beacon Hill) and was living that car-free lifestyle recently had to buy a car because her parents who live in Natick are struggling a lot more and it's become a nightmare to reliably get out there to them. She's trying to get them to stop driving because it's becoming unsafe so short of packing them up and moving them to an assisted facility in the city (are there many well served by the T?) she had to get a vehicle. Sure I guess she could park her car out in Natick and take an uber out there any time there's an issue or she needs to take them shopping or check in but realistically that's not cost effective.
People have complicated lives and acting like everything is super simple black and white is not going to help anyone solve the actual, structural, societal issues that cause widespread car use.
Hard choice but still a choice
By cinnamngrl
Tue, 04/25/2023 - 9:43am
They could move to Natick. She could use their car.
Beacon Hill was targeted because it is very expensive and works to exclude other people enjoying their amenities. Low paid service providers spend hours on public transportation whether or not it is reliable.
Oh and what do you do if you need to get somewhere at 2AM
By Nowy Liberté
Fri, 04/21/2023 - 1:54pm
That may be true if where you need to go is served by the T and you need to get there when the T is running
But just suppose that you need to get to somewhere with no T service on short notice perhaps or that you can't get to the T because of environmental conditions or physical conditions
No -- no one is served by that kind of a statement
Again if you can afford
By cinnamngrl
Tue, 04/25/2023 - 12:51pm
Again if you can afford beacon hill then you can afford car service. This is auto industry koolaid, trying to say that every adult must have a car.
I lived in the Fenway
By lbb
Sat, 04/22/2023 - 5:37pm
I lived in the Fenway and used public transit to get to work. Then my job moved 20 miles out of the city.
maybe speak to someone outside your bubble
By Ben
Sat, 04/22/2023 - 8:01pm
So let's say you are a true urbanite who lives downtown and sends their children to public high school. And the public high school has sports practices in West Roxbury not near any public transportation because the city lacks field space. And since there are no longer bus drivers it is up to parents with SUVs to get all the kids to and from practice roughly 35 minutes away.
Funny, when my family had one
By cinnamngrl
Tue, 04/25/2023 - 9:47am
Funny, when my family had one car in the suburbs with zero public transportation, we were members of several ancient clubs called carpools. One for my father to work 50 miles away, and 2-5 others so that me and my 3 brothers could participate in every sport. And some of the members didn't actually own cars.
Then again....
By merlinmurph
Wed, 04/26/2023 - 7:27am
Not everybody goes where you want to go when you want to go all the time
Is it all about you, drama
By cinnamngrl
Wed, 04/26/2023 - 12:42pm
Is it all about you, drama queen?
Sorry for stating a fact
By merlinmurph
Wed, 04/26/2023 - 1:15pm
Typical magat statement, though.
When you've got nothing, deflect or go with the insults.
hypocrite much?
By cinnamngrl
Wed, 04/26/2023 - 1:42pm
Oblivious and deflection
By merlinmurph
Wed, 04/26/2023 - 7:59am
But they have a car, parked it legally, and someone decided to mess with it.
Nice deflection, though. Bottom line is that their car was vandalized. All this talk about bike pumps and not needing a car is total deflection. Deflection is something I expect from the MAGAts who bring up Soros or Hunter every time they have nothing constructive to say (which is pretty much every time).
How about "Don't Touch Other People's Shit"?
Your shit doesn't belong here
By cinnamngrl
Wed, 04/26/2023 - 12:43pm
Your shit doesn't belong here.
not vandalism
By cinnamngrl
Wed, 04/26/2023 - 12:43pm
legally
This is an amazing country
By merlinmurph
Wed, 04/26/2023 - 1:13pm
People can live where they want to live. People can live in Newton and work in Boston. People can live in Boston and work in Newton.
Wow.
My shit is a lot better than your shit, honey. You got nothing.
if you have so much
By cinnamngrl
Wed, 04/26/2023 - 1:44pm
Why do you need subsidized reserved parking? And why do you get to endanger others?
This has nothing to do with subsidized parking
By merlinmurph
Wed, 04/26/2023 - 5:45pm
Another deflection. Nice going.
Please tell me. What is it about "Don't touch other people's shit" that you don't like?
I have a feeling your answer and this whole discussion would be very different if the vandals had targeted cars with Pro-Choice stickers or LGBTQ+ stickers.
Back to your deflection. How am I endangering others? I'm lost with that comment.
It very much has to do with
By cinnamngrl
Thu, 04/27/2023 - 9:04am
It very much has to do with reserved parking. If you can afford an expensive car, then afford a parking space.
Answer the question
By merlinmurph
Thu, 04/27/2023 - 10:22am
Nice deflection, again. The subject is deflating tires on SUVs, some of which weren't even large or expensive.
How about answering the question?
If you read the article your
By cinnamngrl
Thu, 04/27/2023 - 12:58pm
If you read the article your question would be answered.
Try answering
By merlinmurph
Thu, 04/27/2023 - 1:15pm
What is it about "Don't touch other people's shit" that you don't like?
It seems like you are not
By cinnamngrl
Thu, 04/27/2023 - 1:23pm
It seems like you are not comprehending my comments.
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