Most people's initial reaction is no. The key is getting people of all ages engaged in the environment - immersed in learning. All we have to do is provide a link and incidental learning happens. They can find out how to create a sustainable butterfly garden, for example.
Students have demonstrated the ability to collect real data - they do it every day.
And when people do something themselves, they have ownership of it and responsibility for it. Basic systems are interacting components forming a web. History is patterns of the past. Environment education is patterns of the environment and how they interact. An issue always starts as a problem and then values make it an issue.