A SMALL BUSINESS owner whose commercial vehicles’ tyres were deflated by anti-SUV climate activists last week has warned: “I’m with them on the climate crisis, but this isn’t the way to do it.”
Kelly told The Journal that he was “particularly irked” because he’s “with everybody on the climate crisis”.“It requires a heavy machine, like a 4×4, to be able to pull the trailer.“We’re on their side. I don’t want to be driving around in a vehicle like a gas guzzler either, but until we have the vehicles that are able to do this job and that is clean for the environment, I have to run a business.
The actions of The Tyre Extinguishers came to light when Fine Gael TD Neale Richmond tweeted that the “supposed climate action group” had “slashed” tyres in Churchtown, a leafy south Dublin suburb. While The Tyre Extinguisher leaflet claimed that the “impacts on you will have probably been minimal”, Kelly said it cost him €200 to remedy the deflated tyres.
“It’s all well and good to create awareness, we believe in all the same things, but they can’t be picking on civilians and small businesses and affecting their incomes and their way of life. “The minor inconvenience or disruption caused by some tyres being deflated is nothing compared to, not just the future risks, but the current impacts of climate around the world.”“We need to be targeting the corporate companies and structures that are driving pollution, rather than the individual who, for whatever reason, has chosen to have an SUV and now finds their tyres deflated,” Coghlan said.
“It’s not about saving the planet or the polar bears, this is about making sure human civilization can continue on Earth. Those are the stakes. “This is absolutely not vandalism. Vandalism implies mindless destruction. This is clearly thought through, so it’s certainly not vandalism.” “If you go into a field and have a protest and hold up some banners, who are you annoying? Nobody. What are you achieving? Nothing.