Randal O'Toole: The Man, The Contrarian

In the wake of his appearance on Capitol Hill, The New York Times delves into what makes Randal O'Toole tick.

1 minute read

July 17, 2009, 2:00 PM PDT

By Tim Halbur


"Over and over, O'Toole rattles off numbers that defy intuition. Each claim is a research project unto itself.

All are based on government data, a point that his boosters say makes him a tough foe for smart-growth advocates. O'Toole has no graduate degrees in a quantitative area -- he dropped his pursuit of economics and urban planning degrees after four years at the University of Oregon -- but he said "there's no doubt about the methodology" he has used.

Stacy Davis, who authored the "Transportation Energy Data Book," which O'Toole used for some of his conclusions, said otherwise."

Wednesday, July 15, 2009 in The New York Times

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