I’d invite Max Maizels, who wrote a letter published Jan. 10 (“Calling Al Gore”), to take an unbiased look at the peer-reviewed scientific work on the climate.

Academic work in every field I’ve encountered is reviewed by a panel of scholars who do not know the author’s identity. Yet those uninformed about the process think scientists are getting published as part of some environmentalist conspiracy to make us think that the sky is falling.

It saddens me how few Americans understand the ways in which scientists work to reach a testable and (believe it or not) disprovable consensus. For global warming, the data is not there to overturn the prevailing idea that warming is not only real but accelerated by burning fossil fuels.

For this issue it’s not the overwhelming majority of climate scientists who are in error. Until I see peer-reviewed work in major journals to show us that humans are not altering the climate, I’ll continue to side with Al Gore. The only “junk science” I have found about global warming is among those, like Mr. Maizels, who deny it.

Joe Essid
Richmond

OK. I have finally stopped laughing at Max Maizels’ response that global warming is junk science. When Exxon Corp. has cut its ties to anti-climate-control groups and has called for emission controls, it signals a change in our cultural mindset. On a local level, Mayor Doug Wilder has signed the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. It would be interesting for Style Weekly to do an article on what is being done in Richmond and how residents could get involved.

Susan Milne
Richmond