RESIDENTS: ACTIONS BY CLIMATE GROUP ‘COUNTERPRODUCTIVE’
Beacon Hill residents said the tire-deflating vandalism committed by climate activists in their neighborhood was “cowardly” and “counterproductive.”
Meghan Awe, chair of the Beacon Hill Civic Association, said “neighbors are annoyed” by last Wednesday night’s incident, which left tires on 43 SUVs deflated by international environmental activism group Tyre Extinguishers.
“This community is a neighborhood who cares deeply about the environment,” Awe told the Herald on Saturday. “There are a number of issues where neighbors feel and take action and do things that reduce the carbon footprint in any number of ways.
“And I think, at least for me, it’s like we don’t all have to be doing exactly the same thing to make the world a little bit better place.”
People walk everywhere in Beacon Hill, Awe said, which she described as a small neighborhood that isn’t much different than Back Bay or the South End, and compost regularly. If a resident leaves their car out on the street, it’s likely because they don’t drive every day, she said.
Awe said BHCA has not taken an official position on the vandalism, which is done collectively as a board. But the general consensus, she said, is that “there is a way more productive way to move this cause forward” than deflating tires in a city neighborhood.
The Tyre Extinguishers said in a statement last Thursday that they deflated the tires of 43 luxury SUVs to address what they described as a climate emergency felt around the world, spurred by inaction from government and politicians, the Herald has reported.
“It comes across as a very cowardly, childish way to try and bring attention to a relevant issue,” one Beacon Hill resident who asked to remain anonymous told the Herald on Saturday. “And quite counterproductive.”
The group made a snap judgment about the affected residents’ stance on climate change based on the car they drive, the resident said, adding that those targeted were likely elderly, first responders, educators and working parents.
And instead of seeking to deter SUV use, “perhaps this organization should have thought about all the large diesel vehicles that would have to respond to fix flat tires,” the resident said.
“Nobody respects this behavior,” the resident said. “We live in a broadly liberal city and state where these causes resonate, but this behavior does not. And that, I think, is the point here.”
Further, deflating someone’s tires is not going to spur anyone to buy an electric vehicle, the resident said.
Whether someone agrees with the president’s politics or not, “Joe Biden and the EPA have taken much more material steps to change behavior in America when it comes to emissions,” the resident said.
“And that’s by mandating it,” the resident said. “That’s a political process. That is one that again, whether you agree with it or not, it’s part of how our society functions. Vandalism, just isn’t.”