I used to ride the bus with a lady who grew up in a coal town. We once debated over coal. She said it was so green because there were so many regulations and that wind and solar were horrible for the environment because they were killing birds.
So yeah, people are stupid.
Yep. They're trying to get their lies in as these children's first belief on the matter. Anyone pushing a different view (such as the truth) will then have to defeat this belief first. Same thing religions do, because they know their stuff doesn't stand up to neutral mature scrutiny.