by Travis Mateer

A Missoula teenager is not waiting for others to fix the climate crisis. That’s the headline of this Missoula Current article about Grace Gibson-Snyder, a 16 year old teenager who is pictured leaning against a tree.

How did this teenager become a Montana version of Greta Thunberg? Here is an excerpt from the article that explains how Gibson-Snyder came to this position of teenage climate warrior:

Gibson-Snyder had just finished her freshman year at Hellgate High School in Missoula. With an affinity for human rights and women’s issues, she had been encouraged to work on environmental projects but didn’t want to. She wanted to do something for people.

Over the course of several conversations with her parents, though, Gibson-Snyder’s perspective started to shift, and she came to the realization that climate change is about people.

The emphasis highlights the fact Gibson-Snyder had to be “encouraged” to become a climate warrior. Who encouraged her, her parents? Or was it teenage activist bootcamp? Here’s more from the link:

Her new interest in climate issues gained steam at the Global Leadership Forum, where she met youth from all over the world.

While there, Gibson-Snyder developed a project called Bring Your Own (BYO), which aims to decrease plastic waste in restaurants in Missoula. This was her introduction to climate work but is now on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ah, so Gibson-Snyder went to the Global Leadership Forum. What the heck is that? I don’t know, but a cursory look at their board of directors brings up people like Norma B. Clayton. Who is Norma B. Clayton? Here is her pedigree from the GLF website:

Norma Clayton is a retired Boeing executive She has held leadership roles within Boeing Defense, Lockheed Martin, General Electric, RCA, and General Motors. Among her many community activities, Clayton serves as first vice chair of Tuskegee University’s Board of Trustees and as a Boeing executive focal for Michigan State University. She is a member of Leadership America, the American Society of Industrial Engineers, and the National Association of African Americans in Human Resources.

I hope no one tells Grace Gibson-Snyder that companies like Boeing aren’t really known for their concern regarding climate change.

What they ARE known for is building machines of war that pollute and kill people, something I doubt Grace would appreciate being a part of.

But thanks to her parents, Grace Gibson-Snyder IS a climate warrior, writing op-eds and suing the government. That latter effort was reported on back in March of last year:

The lawsuit says that current policies violate the kids’ right to live in a clean environment. 

The law firms Our Children’s Trust, Western Environmental Law Center and McGarvey Law are representing the 16 kids, ages 2 to 18. The defendants include the State of Montana, Gov. Steve Bullock and a number of state agencies, including the Montana Dept. of Environmental Quality and the Montana Public Service Commission.

I feel sorry for the kids being exploited by their parents for this because no matter how well-meaning they are, their kids will be used by corporations to create the illusion of climate activism while the wars and pollution continue.