Tuesday, February 27, 2007
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Gore: My Power Usage is Just More Complex Than Right-Wingers Can Understand
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Posted by:
Mary Katharine Ham at
3:05 PM
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Silly us to get down on Gore for using more than 20 times the average American's consumption of energy while lecturing the rest of us about our own wastefulness. The deal is, we just can't comprehend how he's avoiding damaging the environment with his magical, lefty ways. From Gore, via Think Progress: 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 footprintand try to reduce it as much as possible. Once they have done so, hethen advocates that they purchase offsets, as the Gore’s do, to bringtheir footprint down to zero.
It’s the latest in a series of desperate attacks by Drudge to paint Gore as a hypocrite...These are the lengths that climate skeptics must go to suppress actionon global warming. There is no meaningful debate within the scientificcommunity, so the right-wing busies itself with talk about how muchelectricity Al Gore’s house uses — and even then they distort the truth.
The lengths weren't really all that great. The story pretty much writes itself when the self-proclaimed guru of global warming uses 20 times as much power as the rest of us. I mean, two times as much? I could see that. I'd probably still point out the hypocrisy, but 20 times? I'm no enviro-freak, but I turn out the lights when I leave a room and shut off the water while I brush my teeth, and it keeps my bills quite a bit more modest than Gore's $30K a year. We right-wingers can't help it if the plain facts of Gore's lifestyle make every normal person in America go, "Wait, he's lecturing me? What a jerk!"
I wonder how many "carbon offsets"-- trees I buy that other people promise to plant for me to soak up all the emissions my lifestyle creates-- I'd have to buy to take care of my $27-a-month power bill, huh? I'd hate not to be carbon-neutral, like Gore is. Treacher: Not to mention that if I can barely afford my electric bill when Ikeep my thermostat at 68 degrees in the winter and only turn on thelights at night to keep from tripping and breaking my neck when I getup to take a piss, how am I supposed to afford "carbon offsets"?
It'sgreat that he's using solar panels and all that, but notice he's notdisputing how huge his electric bill still is. What the hell is hedoing in there? Is he a Terminator from the future and requiresconstant recharging? (That would explain pretty much everything.) Via Hot Air, which has video from Hannity & Colmes about Gore's outlandish consumption.
It seems one can only save the environment these days if he has enough extra money to spend on making up for his own consumption. I can't believe lefties would exclude so much of America from this great crusade based on their income. It's disgraceful. Well, I guess all the poor folks could just have their power cut off, period. If all of us who can't buy carbon offsets did that, in the dead of winter or summer, we'd shortly offset ourselves, if you know what I'm sayin'. Problem solved.
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"There is no meaningful debate within the scientificcommunity, so the right-wing busies itself with talk about how muchelectricity Al Gore’s house uses — and even then they distort the truth."
Amen.
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The only reason there is no reasonable debate in the scientificcommunity (sic) is that the global warming advocates go out of their way to stifle any scientists who dispute their holy gospel.
I don't know how you can distort the truth, as MKH says the story writes itself. AlGore's house uses twenty times the electricity of the average US home. Where is the distortion? |
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As I've written before, this whole idea of purchasing carbon credits as a solution reminds me of medieval times when the rich would purchase absoution for their sins with tithes to the church. Why change your lifestyle when you can just buy absolution? |
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His usage is so complex that right wingers cannot understand it? Is he kidding?
We all can read a electric bill Mr Gore. The fact you use 20 times the amount of the average person is making your Oscar and all of the Hollywood libs look foolish. |
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global warming is easy to understand,when we get more radiation from the sun its hotter,when we get less its colder,anybody that thinks humans cause global warming is a fool,its just a nother example of the liberal elite manufacturing a problem that will require bigger government and higher taxes |
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If I had the colossus ego Gore does, my footprint
would also be HUGE!! What part of "rich" doesn't he understand. Just like his Hollywood Lefties and the tinfoil hatted leftists loons, it's ideology not facts. I keep my themostat at 62 degrees 24/7..use three layers to keep warm and lots of blankets. As an old widow woman, I don't have the MONEY to buy "credits" so I can turn up the heat! Where do these people, in their minds, live anyway? |
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Fear not...I have decided to market "carbon inner-soles" to the general public at less than what Al would have us pay for his "carbon credits".
It may take a while to get them to you as I plan on starting with the needy of the inner-city. But at least after a time we can ALL continue livin' large (maybe not as LARGE as Al) and not have to worry about Global Warming again.
If my plan works we may have to move into TREE-HOUSES with all those new trees people (maybe even illegals) will plant for us the planet will be rolling in green (just like my bank account) but what the heck. It will be good for the environment. |
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As some wit on another site posted.
I mistreated some minorities earlier today but went out and bought some racist credits later so all is well.
Makes about as much sense as AlGore and his carbon bullshi* deal. |
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I gotta point out a couple of things to you guys... the average American household uses about 10,000 kWts a year, but the average houshold in Tennessee uses 15,000. So there's that.
The average American household is about, what, 5 rooms? As I understand it, Gore's place has around 20. It's BIGGER THAN THE AVERAGE HOUSEHOLD. And yes, he's using the solar panels and the CFC bulbs, but it's still going to use more energy than your place.
At your place, how often do you hold fundraising events for various causes? How often do you have 20-person camera crews over for TV interviews?
You're basically criticizing an ostritch for eating more than the average hummingbird.
Since this data is apparently public knowlege, why not compare Gore's energy usage with Giuliani's?
By the way, how did you guys get so convinced that mankind doesn't affect the atmosphere in any way? |
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isn't comparing an ostrich to a hummingbird.
What is being said is that for Al Gore to lecture the rest of us lowly serfs on how we live and what amounts of energy we use is hypocritical given his own lifestyle, regardless of his fluorescent lightbulbs, etc. For the guy to tell everyone ELSE what to do while he continues to live a lifestyle of the rich and famous is the issue. |
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My husband says it sounds like the creative force behind "An Inconvenient Truth" has found himself "A Convenient Excuse." |
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Piker62, I'm sure that I am wasting my time, but I'll go ahead and explain the fallacy of your analogy. An Ostrich is born an ostrich and if it wishes to survive it must live like an ostrich. Eating like a hummingbird would result in malnourishment and death. A rich person does not have to live like a rich person to survive.
If Al Gore is so convinced of Global Warming and the imminent threat it poses, then he could choose to walk the walk. He obviously has chosen the "do as I say not as I do" route. In my mind, Gore's hypocrisy totally invalidates anything coming out of his trap. If he were to choose to move to some kind of hippie commune and live a subsistence lifestyle, then perhaps I might start to believe that he actually believes the snake oil he is selling.
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Nice try, but your justifications just don't cut it.
Gore's mansion is about 10,000 square feet. My humble abode is a "mere" 3,000. That makes Gore Castle about 3.3 times the size of Chez VL -- let's be generous and round up to 4, shall we?
My electrical usage for the last year was 26,892 kWH. Gore's was about 221,000. That's a factor of 8, not 4.
And it only gets worse from there. Gore's natural gas bill was almost $13,000 for the year. (I didn't see a BTU amount listed, but stay with me, it doesn't matter.) My natural gas/oil/propane bill was $0. We're too far out in the sticks for natural gas. It would have been nice if the original owners had put in propane when they built the house (I HATE electric stoves), but they didn't, so we are all electric -- stove, water heater, heat, A/C. (Probably one reason we are so far above the national average usage for electricity.)
That means the Gores used more than double the amount of electricity (per square foot) than we did while ALSO consuming an obscene amount of natural gas.
And that's just for one house... |
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Either way you cut it, the Gore family seems to be consuming an obscenely high level of energy for a couple of middle aged "empty nesters". I could see it if you had a half dozen kids in the house for whom you needed to cook, do laundry and run X-Boxs for. Al hasn't wrapped his mind around personal conservation. Bear in mind that is just his home consumption and doesn't count for his jetting all over the world browbeating the rest of us to cut back. Sure, it's nice that he's writing checks to have the gardeners plant trees on his behalf. Wouldn't it be better if he cut his consumption and still planted those trees anyway so as to cover some of the necessary home heating needs of real folks. These guys are so out of touch. |
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The "Lifestyle" element is the key to the argument. The checkbook environmentalists insist that we need to "dramatically change our lifestyles" while the Gores, Travolta's (did you see he has parks his jet (ONE OF TWO) in his yard?!?!?!) and Streisands have no intention of altering their lifestyles beyond what is trendy (driving a Toyota "Pious" --- get serious). |
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is how does Algore's power consumption compare with other households of a similar size to his. Sure, he should downsize his assets like he is asking all of us poorer folk to do. |
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Boris Q wrote:
"Amen."
Looks like those who say global warming is a religion have their answer there!
Piker62:
"At your place, how often do you hold fundraising events for various causes? How often do you have 20-person camera crews over for TV interviews?"
What ever happened to renting a ballroom at the local Hilton Hotel, or the American Legion hall. Who says he has to entertain his friends and donors at his own house? And why does Al need a 20 person crew to do an interview? One cameraman, one reporter, one 'how to look manly'/wardrobe consultant, two or three makeup artists... that makes only six people needed for his interview.
SJR:
"driving a Toyota "Pious"" LOL! I am going to pretend I made that one up... sorry if I don't mail you a nickel everytime I use it.... Just call me Joe Biden. |
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You guys are quoting them as facts, but your only source is this Tennessee Center. I have seen an article which goes into more detail about the usage, but they simply quote the center again. I'm sure if you all do a little digging, you can get the real numbers. Just remember, the source has to be Al Gore or his Energy company. Then we can debate. |
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For us commoners, this is yet another example of the liberal elite telling US to act one way while they act another way. I see some posters trying to spin their way out of this, but the facts are pretty clear. This guy says he believes global warming is a problem, then CHOOSES to live in a big house, CHOOSES to use a lot of energy, and CHOOSES to tell the rest of us how much harm we're doing.
If you want to be taken seriously, lead by example. |
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Notice that the spokeswomen for Gore did not dispute the actual energy consumption. So, whether the numbers are exact really doesn't matter. I bet they are close enough to reality or the Gore camp would come out a say so. If he has nothing to hid he should make public those bills. And what about his other houses and jet? I bet all combined he probably uses 50 times what us surfs use. He lectures us about conserving energy but doesn't lead the way. Talk about the ultimate hypocrisy. |
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It is serfs that can not afford to surf. :) |
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I have been faithful since the "I do". But Al has inspired me here with his medievil regression to equivalent of religious indulgences. I think its time to go bar hopping.
Hey if Al can buy his way into the greeney's hearts with carbon credits....why can we invent infidelity credits??? Hey, even Slick Willy could use those! |
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"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."
Heh. |
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"just the facts, ma'am"
Facts are stubborn things |
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By now, everyone familiar with Liberal Left bloviations knows about typical Liberal Hypocrisy. From Sean Penn, representing the Hollywood Elites to Al Gore, they heat the air with a carnival of hypocritical messages.
I have given Liberals a new name: NEO-COMs. NEO-COMs are the New-Age Communists; they demand the common American citizen relinquish his-or-her rights for "the common good" of Liberal Government Control. In the meantime NEO-COMs esconce themselves and explain-away their excesses, stating that the average person "would not understand their complexities." So... Gore's power consumption and subsequent obfuscations should not surprise anyone knowing what the NEO-COMs' agenda is... |
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Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please. -- Mark Twain
There is something fascinating about science. One gets such wholesale returns of conjecture out of such a trifling investment of fact. -- Mark Twain
I am not one of those who in expressing opinions confine themselves to facts. -- Mark Twain
If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts. -- Albert Einstein
Where facts are few, experts are many. -- Donald R. Gannon
The truth is more important than the facts. -- Frank Lloyd Wright
Get the facts, or the facts will get you. And when you get them, get them right, or they will get you wrong. -- Dr. Thomas Fuller
If a man is offered a fact which goes against his instincts, he will scrutinize it closely, and unless the evidence is overwhelming, he will refuse to believe it. If, on the other hand, he is offered something which affords a reason for acting in accordance to his instincts, he will accept it even on the slightest evidence. The origin of myths is explained in this way. -- Bertrand Russell |
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Maybe you're right... until they prove conclusively that smoking causes lung cancer, I'm handing out cigarettes to the kids.
Oh and for the rest of you guys, good news - the Clinton impeachment is off! Turns out Henry Hyde had cheated on his wife.
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Think of Gore's pinhead excuses the next time you hear an owner of a bus-sized RV brag about how swell his gas mileage is. Gore MAY have 'minimumized' his carbon footprint, but if everyone had a carbon footprint as big as his, we'd all be screwed. Gore: Martian for "hypocrite". He lost in 2000 because HE DESERVED TO LOSE. |
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Mr. Gore: When I built my new home,(3400 Sq ft) I built it using styrofoam blocks filled with concrete. It has a insulation factor R40. My total electric bill for a total electric home is less than $115 a month on average. I built it one mile from my place of employment and 2 miles from my spouses. It is less than a mile from the local middle school and the local high school and 3 miles from Church. We live less than two miles from WalMart. We take vacations, tsake trips to visit family and friends in other states. We are putting over a grand a month in our Iras. We drive less than 12000 miles a year total. And guess what. I VOTE REPUBLICAN!! |
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