MIDLAND, Mich. —A new guide from the Mackinac Center for Public Policy gives parents, students and others a deeper look at some frequently made claims related to environmental issues. These issues are often presented in classrooms and by the media as indisputable fact, even when there is not a general consensus among scientists or other experts.

A Parent’s Guide to Countering Green Ideologies challenges claims about global warming, fossil fuels, greenhouse gas emissions, alternative energy schemes, and other topics. Many kids, and too many adults, believe misleading ideas related to these topics. One frequent misconception is that low-producing energy sources like solar and wind can replace nuclear and fossil fuels as the primary energy sources. The guide examines the “capacity factors” of each energy source and finds that on average, wind has only been producing electricity 35% of the time, solar only 20% of the time.

To counter the consistently negative environmental messages that students hear, the guide also gives 50 reasons to be optimistic about the future. Human ingenuity has developed amazing technologies and found numerous new ways to solve environmental challenges. A few examples of reasons for optimism include massive improvements in disease prevention, an abundance of food production, safer water supplies and recovering endangered species.

By providing balanced information, this guide will equip readers with the resources they need to effectively question what is being wrongly sold as “settled science.”

“Elected officials, green groups, school curricula and the media have failed to provide an accurate or balanced view of reality,” said Jason Hayes, director of environmental policy and author of the guide. “The lie that humanity is a necessarily destructive force on our Earth has been used to promote many dangerous and divisive energy and environmental policies. This guide begins the process of challenging the so-called consensus view. Hopefully it will prompt a deeper discussion on these important environmental issues.”

You can view the guide here.