Let me be clear up front, I could care less about Al Gore and his politics. This isn't an attack because he is a leftie, it is an attack on his hypocrisy. The ultimate in hypocrisy. Al Gore has been running around the world spreading crap about global warming, whipping the left and environmentalist in general into a frenzy against everything modern and in the meantime his mansion uses as much electricity in a month as the average working man's house does in a whole year. Yes, you read that right, his mansion uses as much in a month as 20 families do.
When Al Gore actually moves into a reasonable house and stops being holier than thou, then the rest of us should listen to him. Until then he should just shut his lying hole.
From the Tennessee Center For Policy Research
...the Tennessee Center for Policy Research has found that Gore deserves a gold statue for hypocrisy
Gore’s mansion, located in the posh Belle Meade area of Nashville, consumes more electricity every month than the average American household uses in an entire year, according to the Nashville Electric Service (NES).
...
The average household in America consumes 10,656 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year, according to the Department of Energy. In 2006, Gore devoured nearly 221,000 kWh—more than 20 times the national average.
Last August alone, Gore burned through 22,619 kWh—guzzling more than twice the electricity in one month than an average American family uses in an entire year.
...
In total, Gore paid nearly $30,000 in combined electricity and natural gas bills for his Nashville estate in 2006.
His average monthly electric bill is $1,350. His average monthly gas bill is $1,080. More than most working families pay for their mortgage which is a basic necessity - shelter. In addition the article points out that his energy usage has actually increased since the release of his global warming film, from 16,200 kWh per month to 18,400 kWh per month.
This guy is a hypocrite of the highest order. He'd prefer that everyone move into caves while he lives in a castle and dictates policy.
Gore came out to defend himself on the liberal website Think Progress where he had this to say:
1) Gore’s family has taken numerous steps to reduce the carbon footprint of their private residence, including signing up for 100 percent green power through Green Power Switch, installing solar panels, and using compact fluorescent bulbs and other energy saving technology.
2) Gore has had a consistent position of purchasing carbon offsets to offset the family’s carbon footprint — a concept the right-wing fails to understand. Gore’s office explains:
What Mr. Gore has asked is that every family calculate their carbon footprint and try to reduce it as much as possible. Once they have done so, he then advocates that they purchase offsets, as the Gore’s do, to bring their footprint down to zero
These are the lengths that climate skeptics must go to suppress action on global warming.
That is a total crock of shit. Gore has called for people to sacrifice, yet has not done so himself as evidenced by his actual increase in consumption. All he's done is tossed a little money at the problem and called it even.
I haven't spoken out on my global warming beliefs here, but in a nutshell after looking into it I believe it to be true, but not because of humans. It's a natural cycle that occurs. Humans surely have their impacts, but they are so infinitesimally small that their impact in the grand scheme of things doesn't matter.
These alarmists continue to believe that humans are larger than life and that everything in the universe revolves around us. Well I'm here to tell you the universe doesn't give a crap about us. we aren't even a wart on the universe's ass. Decade after decade we go through these cycles of how humans are at fault for these climate shifts yet they continue, both cooling and warming.
Al Gore's actions would be akin to me running this website while owning a winery in California that actively sought out and employed illegal aliens. Utterly ridiculous.
Over at Wizbang they're taking the political angle by pointing out a 2001 article on George Bush's Crawford Ranch that uses many environmentally friendly applications.
While that's all fine and dandy I don't see this as a political topic at all, but rather one of character and beliefs.
I'm not against consumption and "living it up", but if you're going to fly around in private jets, consume as much electricity as 20 families and then stand there and berate people then you deserve to be taken to task and that your credibility be ruined forever. If he's willing to generally be a hypocrite on this topic what else is he preaching but not practicing.
I wonder what Ed Begley Jr. would say?
Tipped by: BlogsNow
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