Answer me this...

[mr self destruct]

[quote author=richfzs link=topic=10594.msg111465#msg111465 date=1383636277]
Being closer to, or further away from, the sun has got foc all to do with it. The difference, in percentage terms, is tiny.

What is important, is the tilt from the vertical axis. Think on a beam of light, and for arguments sake, every beam of light is a foot wide. When that beam of light is aimed squarely at a surface, it covers an area a foot wide - but if you start to tilt the surface it's hitting, it suddenly covers a bigger area. So the energy it contains is spread thinner, less energy for a given area, hence it's cooler.

When we're tilted towards the sun, we have summer, and vice versa.

Thick as I am  the initial statement is flawed.  If you change the angle of a,surface (the earth)  to a fixed point (the sun)  the distance of the sun will increase along the line of the surface. Thus changing the angle. So distance no matter how insignificant must play a part.
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Mathematically your point is correct, but seeing how the maximum distance any point on earth can change with the angle in question (i.e. 23.5 degrees) is 1600 miles (the distance between the arctic/antarctic circles and the north/south poles), that's only 0.0017% of the Earth's 91-94 million mile distance from the sun.