An environmental activist organization claims to have had flat tires on 34 SUVs in Victoria and Oak Bay.
Victoria’s new Tire Firefighters have posted online that they are part of a worldwide direct action to eliminate SUVs from urban areas.
“We do this with a simple tactic: we blow out the tires of these massive, unnecessary vehicles, inconveniencing their owners without endangering anyone’s life in the process,” the website says.
“We’re taking action because, like so many British Columbians, we’ve felt angry, powerless, scared and overwhelmed by the global scale of the climate crisis and the glacial pace of action, and we’ve asked ourselves: What direct action can we take that will make a difference?”
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Victoria Police have opened a case on the environmental action and so far one person in the city has lodged a complaint with the police.
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Oak Bay police have received eight complaints of flat tires.
Bob Kennedy’s daughter’s SUV was attacked Friday morning, and he said she noticed the tires were flat before driving on the flat tire.
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“What really worries me is that she’s going into her ninth month of pregnancy, which is going to leave her without a vehicle in the middle of the night if she really needs one,” Kennedy told Mike Smith on CKNW’s Mike Smith Show .
“I cannot understand why they do such things.
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Kennedy says he agrees more needs to be done to address climate change, but targeting people’s vehicles is not the way to do it.
“We have to do something to deal with climate change, but it’s not going to accomplish anything,” Kennedy said.
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“You’re targeting people with little opinion. People have reasons for having certain types of vehicles. In my daughter’s case, it’s a useful vehicle.
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The Tire Extinguishers claim that, as of 2010, SUVs are the second largest driver of rising global carbon dioxide emissions.
The activist organization is calling for a ban on SUVs in urban areas and pollution taxes to tax SUVs “out of existence”.
“The people whose tires we blow out will be inconvenienced, but will eventually be able to get around by using public transport, walking or cycling, as many other residents of Victoria and Oak Bay do,” their website says .
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