Misinformation and democracy

A fundamental prerequisite for an open democratic society is that citizens be adequately informed of the major issues of the day, that they understand the factors that go into making public policy on these issues. Currently, few things are more important than the issues that impinge on energy policy, such as: nuclear reactor economic and safety characteristics, solar energy viability, and automotive fuel economy standards. These, and many others, are the subject of intense research and study by many organizations and agencies. Reports on the results of such research and study — often of massive proportions — are released at an increasing rate. Citizens' views of reality concerning energy issues, their perceptions of the facts impinging on public policy, largely come from press-prepared summaries of the summaries-and-conclusions section of such reports often called executive summaries.