Environmental Education?

I just finished reading one of my son's summer reading books, Phoenix Rising by Karen Hesse.

There is an accident at a nuclear power plant in a northeastern town. A boy, age 15, has been exposed to high levels of radiation and is quite sick. His father, the plant manager, died shortly after the accident. The boy and his mother, called evacuees, are offered a place to stay at a farm fairly near to the accident scene. The boy, at his death bed, is comforted by the youngish girl at the farmhouse. She reads to him mostly and he gradually recovers from the radiation poisoning. The girl is instrumental in his recovery and the two of them form a close bond. The boys recovery is fleeting, however. He gets sick again and dies shortly thereafter. But before he does, he tells the story of the fights that he had with his dad. "I told my father, if anything ever went wrong, if there ever was an accident, it would be his fault. For accepting nuclear money, for accepting nuclear risk. It would be his fault." And the girl had the following conversation with her grandma after the boys death: "You really believe that something will be done. (about nuclear disasters presumably)" said the girl. "Ayuh," Gran said. "But maybe you have to be the one to do it."

This was a nice, moving story. But my question is this: Is my son being groomed to be an environmental activists, or is dad hypersensitive about imaginary political agendas?