Children’s Book Counters Environmental Propaganda

Published January 3, 2011

Review of The Energy Primer for Kids: With a Primer for Grown-ups, by Vladislav Bevc (Eloquent Books, 2010), 58 pages, ISBN-13: 978-1609115982

Children these days are bombarded by nonstop propaganda claiming Western nations and market economies are destroying the earth. Not often do children encounter a book that encourages critical thinking about such emotional environmental claims and the inevitable prescription of expensive renewable energy to solve the fictitious problem.

Vladislav Bevc’s book The Energy Primer for Kids: With a Primer for Grown-ups is a superb exception: an informative and important 57-page paperback that cuts through alarmist environmental propaganda in a manner children will find interesting and memorable.

Arming Kids with Truth
Addressing proposed environmental “solutions” such as electric cars, solar and wind power, and renewable fuels, The Energy Primer for Kids shows why certain alternatives may be technologically feasible but economically undesirable. Children and their parents are shown how to spot the flaws in the deluge of propaganda and make informed energy and environmental decisions as citizens and voters.

In the process of cutting through anti-market environmental propaganda, The Energy Primer for Kids explains mathematical models for school kids better than almost any other source you will find.

The book also explains the importance of the scientific method, whereby scientists respond to new theories by actively encouraging counter-theories and counter-research that may prove the proposed theory wrong. Only through such rigorous testing of proposed theories does the truth ultimately emerge.

This time-tested method of truth-seeking has unfortunately has been subjected to extreme hostility by global warming alarmists who demonize all who would question their speculative theories.

Energy Myths Exposed
Bevc’s book also explains the fallacy of deriving experimental results with a primary goal of keeping government money flowing rather than seeking the truth and nothing but the truth. The author runs some fascinating calculations for children, such as one estimating all the wind power available over the conterminous United States would not equal the energy available from 12 conventional 1000 megawatt power plants.

In addition, Bevc shows the corn required to produce enough ethanol to fill a single 20-gallon automobile fuel tank equals the amount of corn a single American eats in a year.

Philosophical Wisdom
The Energy Primer for Kids treats young readers to wonderful bits of philosophical wisdom such as the following quote:

“The main problem humanity has is men who want to dominate us all. Such men appear time and again claiming that they can solve problems most people do not understand. They tell the people that if they only followed them and did everything they command, the problem would go away. History shows that nothing has ever been solved by such men and that they have invariably caused great misfortune to humanity.”

This statement precedes an excellent explanation of the global warming fraud.

This book would make a great addition to your child’s birthday, Valentine’s Day, or Easter gift list.

Jay Lehr, Ph.D. ([email protected]) is science director of The Heartland Institute.