LETTER TO EDITOR: It's raining, you're snoring

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In his book "The Audacity of Hope," Barack Obama acknowledged that "sometimes there are facts that cannot be spun, just as an argument about whether it's raining can usually be settled by stepping outside." Checking the conditions outside is precisely what The Washington Times failed to do before conveying, without balance or rebuttal, the claim by Bob Deans of the Natural Resources Defense Council that "there is no doubt that global temperatures are increasing" ("Maverick geologist lauds greenhouse gas," Plugged in, Tuesday).

It was bad enough to enable the NRDC spokesman's ritual claim of just how gauche it is to challenge science that has been declared "settled" without calling on him to enlighten readers as to when it was settled or what settled it. Even worse, the temperatures, like the rain, are easily accessible thanks to satellites placed in service in the late 1970s in response to the panic over supposed man-made global cooling. These satellites reveal that there has been no statistically significant warming for the past 13 years, a rapid cooling for the past eight years and otherwise plenty of doubt that global temperatures are increasing.

It is the job of the media to challenge, not perpetuate, such claims, particularly when the taxpayer spends many millions of dollars each year for the privilege of obtaining information that is proclaimed critically important and yet officially ignored in the rush to adopt a desired agenda.

CHRISTOPHER C. HORNER

Senior fellow

Competitive Enterprise Institute

Washington