Gore’s home guzzles even more energy after green renovations

smallpoxgirl · Moderator Joined: Nov 08, 2004 Posts: 6486

Jevon in action.
_________________
"We were standing on the edges
Of a thousand burning bridges
Sifting through the ashes every day
What we thought would never end
Now is nothing more than a memory
The way things were before
I lost my way" - OCMS

cipi604

Al Gore is that guy who is spending big bucks on big houses , driving big nice cars and flies every day in a jet engine airplane? No way, he cares too much about the planet to do that! [/sarcasm]

Battle_Scarred_Galactico · Intermediate Crude Joined: Apr 07, 2005 Posts: 970

Gores' done a good job of Rearranging deck chairs on the good ship Industrial Civilization.
_________________
"One minute I held the key, next the walls were closed on me, and I discovered that my castle stands upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand."

Kingcoal

Gore reminds me of the rich environmentalist/hippy from the sixties. He talks out of both sides of his mouth. I hate to do it, but I'll use a quote from GWB. Regarding increasing taxes, Bush made a funny but true comment saying that if you want higher taxes, the IRS has no problem with you overpaying your current taxes. In fact, the IRS will gladly accept any extra donations without any problem whatsoever. The moral of the story is that you have to put your money where your mouth is. Most all people who "want" higher taxes are talking about other people's taxes, not their own. It's the same with other things that people scold other people about. If you are preaching environmentalism 24/7, but live like every other rich person; consuming as much as possible, then you are a hypocrite.
_________________
"That's the problem with mercy, kid... It just ain't professional" - Fast Eddie, The Color of Money

Forney2008

Not to defend the man, but what would his energy use be by use per square foot. Considering he has such a large house compared to most Americans, would it not be more appropriate to compare the average American's home energy use per square foot to that of Al Gore's use to see just how much of an "energy hog" Al Gore really is?

lawnchair · Intermediate Crude Joined: Oct 20, 2004 Posts: 793

His electric bill went up primarily because of replacing furnaces with heat pumps. I'm betting his natural gas bill went down substantially.

Of course, my 2-person bungalow uses about 1/42nd of Al's house in electricity (i.e., less than half the national average). On another thread, we found several PO members who use even less.

Sadly, though, Al would be mercilessly mocked if he took the Jerry Brown/Ralph Nader approach and demonstrated real energy efficiency. As much as I'd love to see Al and Tipper hanging clothes on a clothesline, Jay Leno wouldn't stop razzing him on it.

The fluorescent bulb thing is acceptable, because that involved *buying* something. Clotheslines/bikes/transit are not acceptable to most, because they involve *doing* something.
_________________
At 1% annual growth, human bodies will incorporate every gram in the observable universe in approximately 10,170 years.

joelcolorado · Intermediate Crude Joined: May 25, 2008 Posts: 683

Reminds me of the Kennedy that was on Hannity and Combs. He was touting small cars and houses and cutting back for everyone. When nailed down, he admitted to having 3 homes and flying private jets to his appearances. And to having 3 SUV's etc.
His excuse was that he NEEDS those things as opposed to the masses. He said if you NEED them they areokay to have.

Al is the same, he flies all over the globe bullshitting and making money off the green movement and consumes millions of times more energy than I will ever use. BUT HE NEEDS it. See the difference?

I laugh at the movie stars driving a prius and having 3 homes or 40,000 sq ft homes at the same time, flying all over the world etc. Its so disgusting but the media never calls them on it. OH NO, dont touch the stars. John Travolta has 5 jets and preaches conservation to ME. Get out of here.

aflurry · Intermediate Crude Joined: Mar 28, 2005 Posts: 839

Cashmere · Light Sweet Crude Joined: Mar 27, 2008 Posts: 1971

Al Gore - The man who put the "douche" in "douche bag."
_________________
Massive Human Dieoff must occur as a result of Peak Oil. Many more than half will die. It will occur everywhere, including where you live. If you fail to recognize this, then your odds of living move toward the "going to die" group.

aflurry · Intermediate Crude Joined: Mar 28, 2005 Posts: 839

joelcolorado · Intermediate Crude Joined: May 25, 2008 Posts: 683

You cannot defend Als multiple homes nor his jet setting around the world on private jets. Nor his making $100 million so far on his GREEN investments. Those are facts and he admits to them.

Its like the rich evangellist begging for money for the poor and sitting on hundreds of millions of dollars. Hypocrisy at any level smells to high heaven

dsula · Heavy Crude Joined: Jun 13, 2007 Posts: 147

does anybody know how it's even possible to burn that much electricity. Seriously, what is he doing. Having an aluminum smelter in the basement?

aflurry · Intermediate Crude Joined: Mar 28, 2005 Posts: 839

aflurry · Intermediate Crude Joined: Mar 28, 2005 Posts: 839

aflurry · Intermediate Crude Joined: Mar 28, 2005 Posts: 839

two analyses back up the TRCR claim - to a point:

http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/government/a/al_gore_energy.htm
http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/gorehome.asp

Three comments however:

1. The TPRC claims they use 20 times more than the average household. The AP says it's closer to 12 times. not to mention the house is a large and apparently old building.
2. Both he and his wife run businesses out of the house, so adjustments should be made for that.
3. His main defense is that he chooses energy from renewable sources, and that he buys offsetting carbon credits. no comment here about the effectiveness of this strategy. it's one of those complicated interplays between physical resources and economy... hard to predict.

The urbanlegends conclusion is that yes, the high energy usage is true, but that no, he's not a hypocrite because his offsetting scheme is consistent with his recommendations.