Valley Green Gallery presents "Meet the Artist" with Ruth Hamner

As sure as the sun rises in the morning, you can bet that any mention of global warming will bring out the deniers and their moth-eaten compilation of half-truths, cherry-picked evidence, arguments from ignorance, and outright lies. Charles Battig's letter in the 6/4 Hook is typical -- indeed, so typical that it's barely worth refuting. But thanks to The Hook's inexplicable pseudo-libertarian bent, it was published, and so demands a response. Such active ignorance should never be left unchallenged.

There has been "no warming since 1998" goes the claim. Well Charles, there is a concept in Statistics 101 called "variability within a trend" that you might want to look up. Multiple lines of evidence across multiple scientific disciplines show that the long-term global mean temperature trend is up and that the majority of the warming is due to human activity. Yes, there was a legitimate scientific debate about anthropogenic climate change in the 1990s. That debate has been definitively resolved, no matter how much Exxon-funded think tanks try to convince America otherwise. (More details: http://climateprogress.org/2008/08/21/debunking-the-myth-global-warming-...)

So, Charles, get over it. It's long past time for you to move on to another Fox News talking point: how about Obama's responsibility for the financial crisis? Or Judge Sotomayor's "racism"? Or America's descent into gay socialism? Or how the intellectual powerhouses of the Right such as Joe the Plumber don't get any respect in the mainstream media? Or...

Come to think of it, I encourage you not to change your opinion: if conservatives/Republicans such as yourself continue to run on the anti-reality platform, they ensure the opposition a long and fruitful tenure.

(PS, to The Hook editors: Battig is a denier activist. You've published his rants multiple times, as has the CVille, Daily Progress, Wall St. Journal, and others. How about giving somebody else a turn?)