31 Jul 2007

Greens vandalise fuel-greedy 4x4 cars


What if that Hummer H2 SUT Crew Cab had been a church, synagogue or mosque? Headline: "Congregation Gets Angry Message: Vandals Break Windows, Slash Pews and Carve In an Anti-Religious Note." That would have been sufficient? That would have been fair?

SUV attacks have been occurring in Washington,DC and the local journalists are getting angry, read more here.

CBS news takes up the story here

(CBS/AP) When Gareth Groves brought home his new Hummer SUV, he knew his eco-friendly neighbors disapproved. But he didn't expect this.

His Hummer only lasted five days. On Monday, two masked men were seen taking a bat to every window, knifing each tire and scratching a message into the body — "For The Environ."


Now the attacks have spread to Berlin, this is from the centre right (but quite readable) British newspaper the Daily Telegraph, you can read more here.

This kind of direct action which targets property but is non violent to people has long been pioneered by the Earth Liberation Front an off shoot from Earth First! in the UK and US.

I guess it is a big deal for the right wing readers of the Daily Telegraph, I guess some of them have SUVs but more are probably disgusted by the behaviour of the Mayor of Kensington, a Conservative Party member, who has just spent £115,000 on a gus guzzler....Kensington if you don't know the UK is a tiny London Borough, both small and congested, you can get around without any kind of car without inconvenience.

The Times notes today:

In Kensington and Chelsea, there has been a fuss over the Lord Mayor’s new car, a £115,000 Bentley Continental Flying Spur. This does 195mph, in a borough where the average speed is 18mph, and is one of the worst gas guzzlers on the planet. The City does not always get on with the borough next door; the Lord Mayor’s people point out to me, a touch smugly, that he makes do for much of the time with a gas-powered taxi.

2 comments:

Joe Otten said...

Derek, are you for the vandalism or against it? Or can you not make up your mind?

weggis said...

This is precisely the sort of thing that gives the Green Party and the wider Green movement a bad name.
The vehicles are insured, they are just going to have them repaired or buy a new one, more environmental damage, more consumerism.

Violent behaviour whether it is against people or property does not win a debate. You have to address the minds and souls.

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