I do buy that they vandalized the Hummer for environmental reasons but I doubt that they were serious environmentalists tied to any real environmental movement who are usually more concerned with how their actions may hurt “the cause”. It was probably some folks, likely on bikes, so just saw this thing and said “let’s let him know that **** isn’t acceptable – no one else will” and they ****ed up his truck. I don’t really have a whole lot of sympathy for the guy.
This type of action perfectly exemplifies one of the greatest philosophical divides in any movement. If you look at the Animal Rights movement – Peta aims to win the hearts and minds of the public (often quite unsuccessfully) and the Animal Liberation Front aims to end suffering right now by any means necessary… So Peta hands out pamphlets and the ALF blows up slaughterhouses. The ALF is aware that it won’t help “the cause” but the immediate effect is that no animals will get slaughtered in that slaughterhouse that day and it harms the company financially. Realistically, they aren’t going to shut these companies down but they’ll keep blowing up slaughterhouses as long as their conscience compels them to do so. It’s not really any different than the Moderate Abolitionists vs. The Underground Railroad in times of slavery… MLK vs. Malcolm X in the 60s… Direct Action vs. Slow & Steady progress…
Now, in the Hummer case, the direct action may actually achieve the desired result – this clown may get rid of it because it’s too much of a pain in the ass to deal with – other people may think twice before buying one because they don’t want to deal with the hassle. Sure, they won’t care more about the environment but their own selfishness may prevent them from harming it as much as they had in the past. People who buy Hummers are well aware of the environmental effects of their actions (not to mention other effects… ahem… Iraq? Sudan?) and they don’t give a ****… but they do give a **** about their bank accounts so you gotta hit ‘em where it hurts.
For the record I’m not stating which side of the fence I stand on – I think both sides are equally as important so I climb that fence from one side to the other so often that I can’t claim to have my feet firmly planted on either side.