by Travis Mateer
I’m sure Mica’s mommy and daddy truly believe they are doing what they need to do for their kid, which includes using him for a legal case to save the world from what they think will be catastrophic climate change if we don’t all DO SOMETHING NOW!
I didn’t go looking for this image of a 14 year old kid when I first saw another Missoulian article bashing cars and promoting multi-modal zealots who continue pushing their fear ideology on the rest of us. Here’s what I’m talking about from an organization called “Common Good”. This explanation of what a “neighborway” is comes after some fear-mongering about pedestrians having conflicts with cars (emphasis mine):
The neighborway concept emerged from community listening sessions conducted by the nonprofit Common Good Missoula. The design involves a 6- or 8-foot protected corridor along existing streets. To install a neighborway, parking would be rearranged and roadways would get narrower. Wilburn and Endsley also envision adding traffic circles and other calming measures on streets where neighborways are put into place.
The idea is to provide a lower-cost, quicker-build alternative to sidewalks and traditional protected bike lanes. Their proponents see neighborways as a boon for safety, equity and climate resilience.
“We’ve heard repeatedly concerns about pedestrian and biking safety,” said Endsley. “It doesn’t always feel safe or easy getting around Missoula without a car.”
Of course Endsley is repeatedly hearing about these concerns, that’s because there is a well-funded AGENDA to make sure the FEAR of climate change is pushed on local officials so that they spend money they don’t have on infrastructure we don’t need.
It’s not always easy to parse out the orgs involved in this fear campaign, so I started with the about page of Common Good to see what other organizations are involved:
I took the first group on this list–Families for a Livable Climate–and under the page where you can become a business sponsor I found this:
Kantor Law? Hey, isn’t that the surname of the 14 year old climate activist? Wow, what a coincidence!
When you go to the Montana Free Press article about Mica Kantor, they don’t tell you that Kantor Law is involved in this movement, but they DO tell you how Mica’s parents started indoctrinating their son into the FEAR campaign at the age of four. From the link (emphasis mine):
Even before Kantor’s experience with wildfires disrupting his athletic outlet, he was aware of the impacts of global warming. The first time he recalls hearing about climate change was as a 4-year-old, he says, when his parents took him to see the 2012 documentary “Chasing Ice.”
“My parents didn’t think I’d understand the film. They just thought I’d like the cinematography,” he said. “But I understood. Not fully, since I was 4, but I knew something was wrong and it scared me a little. I was shocked and had a lot of questions for my parents. I’ve been trying to learn more and more about it ever since.”
So, scare the kid, then use him in a legal case? Brilliant. And what kind of asshole is going to criticize that? Certainly not a REAL journalist from a REAL institution that gets tourist dollars from municipalities, like the city of Missoula. Right Montana FREE Press?
Beneath Kantor Law the logo of a brewery is clearly visible. A brewery? Yes, but Imagination Station wants you to think they are SO MUCH MORE than a brewery, but are they?
Yesterday I went to Imagination Station to see if they were aware of the CRITICAL CHALLENGE of urban camping and the recent EXPLOSION near this brewery’s West Broadway location. The woman who pours beers had NO CLUE that an open pit fire near one of the “urban camps” exploded, sending a piece of metal shrapnel at a first responder.
Upon arrival crews found an 16-foot by 16-foot fire in a large pit with multiple explosions that were heard at the scene.
A piece of metal that flew out of the pit nearly missed one of the first responders.
The fire was successfully contained due to the prompt response of emergency personnel.
I educated the bartender of this COMMUNITY-ORIENTED brewery about the fire and explosions that happened behind their business, then suggested if they wanted to do something actually constructive for this community, maybe they should organize a clean-up or something.
Is jumping on the climate-fear bandwagon really a good move for businesses? For Edward Jones it appears to be a good opportunity to pitch bullshit investment strategies like “decarbonizing” your money.
Of course the Headwaters Foundation hosted this event. It’s the perfect place for Missoula’s replacement population to mitigate their wealth-guilt and signal their world-saving virtue.
If you appreciate my perspective consider supporting Travis’ Impact Fund (TIF).
Thanks for reading!
Educating children about the climate emergency is hardly a sinister conspiracy. Nor is transforming our ugly, deadly, automobile-centric society. This is one tree you bark up, that I can’t understand. It is not fear-mongering to tell the truth about something that is going to kill the biosphere if not addressed via some radical measures. The real, sinister, conspiracy has been that of Exxon, et al in lying and suppressing proof of anthropomorphic climate change, real evidence of which was reported in scientific journals more than a century ago. Caring about children means doing something to keep them and their children alive and capable of enjoying and sustaining human existence as the climate-driven Sixth Great Extinction proceeds.
Who gave you permission to use my photo? And use it to denigrate a minor? And then use it for profit? Not a smart move.
Ana
The image is a screenshot from an article and it’s not being used for profit, “Ana”.
Thank you for this post, Travis! Keep pushing out the information. Unfortunately, our society keeps trying to profess theories as facts. Only facts can be facts; theories are theories. It was in 2006 that Al Gore said that we had only a decade left to save the planet from global warming. In a December 2009 speech at a climate conference, Gore said that some of the research models suggested that there would be a 75% chance that the entire north polar ice cap, during some of the summer months, could be completely ice-free within the upcoming five to seven years. In 2018, Greta Thunberg tweeted that a top climate scientist had warned that climate change will wipe out all of humanity unless we stop using fossil fuels over the next five years. In 2023, Greta deleted the tweet. If phrases like “Great Extinction” are used, those statements should be considered theoretical and not factual.
I greatly appreciate the positive encouragement because I do hesitate to write stuff like this, mostly because I do respect people like Mr. Hunt, and don’t want to unnecessarily piss off people who I am in alignment with on other important local issues.
Also, my mom reads the comments more than the actual posts, so this validates what I tell her: some people actually do appreciate what I’m doing, so thank you Jay!
Taking Mica to see a climate alarmist documentary is a religious rite similar to sin thumpers taking their children to see Heavens Gate, Hells Flames to scare them straight and reinforce doom cult ideology.
The Michael Moore produced film Planet Of The Humans about green-washing and corporate propaganda around the changing climate is interesting and thought provoking. Have you seen it?
I have, but it was awhile ago. I was surprised he risked the wrath of the movement, but that’s one luxury money affords a creative.
Travis,
I have not stayed current with your posts due to an extremely hectic work schedule for the last few months, but spent some time today scrolling through them and even had a peek at the new blogspace. You have been busy.
I did find this interesting tidbit in your telling of the “wildfire” behind Imagination Station.
“A piece of metal that flew out of the pit nearly missed one of the first responders.”
If it nearly (almost) missed the first responder, does that mean it scored a hit? Or was this just something which was nearly missed by the editor?
Anyway, glad to see you are still alive and kicking.
Yep, still kickin’, and today is a very special day because I have court where I’m defending myself against an amazing exploitation of the criminal justice system by a very troubled person who told me clearly her plan to destroy me after I ended the relationship. Hit me up and I’ll tell you all about it over coffee, but NO sweets, for some insane reason I’ve cut sugar out of my diet for 6 weeks and I’m only on day 4.