Who will be the next great Climate Teen?

Now that truant Greta Thunberg is all grown up and aging out of her usefulness, progressive groups and our media are on the hunt, American Idol-style, for the next great Climate Teen. Just as the left puts teenagers on the frontline for gun control, and the Biden administration uses rosy-cheeked heartthrobs (much like Hamas does with human shields) to yell at people on TikTok, the media is desperately thirsty for a new batch of young climate activists with the charisma of boy band stars and the backing of thousands of lawyers and parents with political ambitions — they just won’t tell you that last part.

Take the case of Badge and Lander Busse from Montana. These plucky teens, aptly named like a couple of young Wes Anderson/Davy Crockett Boy Scouts, are leading a group of youngsters who have become the new climate choir by filing a lawsuit against their own state. The judge, in a decision that is almost certainly going to be reversed upon appeal, ruled in favor of the lawsuit, which claims as damages that the teenagers could no longer participate in their privileged white kid activities, including horseback riding, skiing, fishing and even musical theater.

The media fawned over the new Captain Planet brigade, lavishing them with national attention usually reserved for influencers and Justin Bieber, ignoring the fact that when it comes to the issue of climate, we’re supposed to listen to scientists, not high schoolers. But that doesn’t matter anymore; the climate debate is more about which kids look the coolest on Instagram. But behind these fresh-faced climate celebrities you’ll find thousands of dollars of dark money backing attorneys bringing frivolous lawsuits.

ABC News recently profiled the Busse boys at their home over their legal victory. ABC even interviewed their mother, but failed to interview their father, and only mentioned a curious campaign in passing. You see, Badge and Lander’s father is Ryan Busse, a former advisor to the Gabby Giffords Foundation, a writer for the Atlantic, an advisor on Joe Biden’s presidential campaign and the current Democratic candidate for governor of Montana. He’s even appeared on The Daily Show to discuss the topic of gun control.

Just a simple oversight by ABC News, right? ABC presented two young brothers as courageous activists taking on the state establishment. Except it appears they were backed by the legal and political infrastructure that also supports their father’s own political ambitions. This is, of course, all a sleight of hand that ABC News and other outlets know undermines the idea that this cause isn’t a purely political move to push one side’s extreme climate agenda. Putting kids at the forefront means we must listen to what they have to say, of course, when we as a society, have the duty to do anything but.

This was a trick the media learned with the Parkland High School shooting, which launched lucrative activist careers for a handful of teenagers, who have now, save one, moved on with their lives. The promise of media appearances, social media engagement and nationally televised interviews certainly is an alluring one for the right teens.

I don’t believe so much that these kids should be berated for their activism, however. I just wonder how this would go over if the right side of the aisle began employing in the same practices. As I wrote for The Spectator in 2019, perhaps the next spokesperson for the NRA should be a teenager. Maybe even pro-life organizations should start throwing thousands of dollars at baby-faced kids to lecture us on the importance of life.

Should we all hold our collective breaths that the media would embrace the conservative youth in the same way they have embraced the Busse family, and the shameless propping up of their own kids for political purposes? I won’t.