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“EVERY FAMILY HAS A DIFFERENT CARBON FOOTPRINT”
Swiftboating defined: “The disclosure of truths that are, er, inconvenient for Democrats.” Sounds about right; the swiftboating of Al Gore sure fits that definition. Tennessee’s Bob Krumm discloses this truth:
Four and a half years ago Al Gore bought a large home and made it larger, but did very little to reduce his own energy consumption. Instead, he spent the same time telling you how to reduce yours.
And from Jim Treacher:
It’s great that he’s using solar panels and all that, but notice he’s not disputing how huge his electric bill still is. What the hell is he doing in there? Is he a Terminator from the future and requires constant recharging? (That would explain pretty much everything.)
Do read on. Ed Driscoll has more, as does Scott:
This is typical liberal behavior of course. John Edwards talks of two Americas yet lives in a house roughly the size of one of them. Now we have Al Gore sucking up enough energy for a small hospital.
The Gore camp is on the offensive over this issue with statements such as “I think what you’re seeing here is the last gasp of the global warming skeptics…” or my personal favorite; “the bottom line is that every family has a different carbon footprint. And what Vice President Gore has asked is for families to calculate that footprint and take steps to reduce and offset it.”
Nice of him to ask. Biff Henderson in NYC sends a chilling reply:
“So, Al Gore’s global warming film wins an Academy Award? Well, Al can kiss my frozen ass!”
Must be a riot hearing about Global Warming and your family’s eco footprint while shovelling the driveway in snowshoes.
Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2007 02 28 at 04:12 AM • permalinkIt’s the typical lordship philosophy of the Dems. We are your superiors and know what is best for you. We will tell you what to eat, drink, think and do. Listen to us, for our vast wisdom and supreme intellects entitle us to rule over the masses. Do as we say sheep. We’ll provide everything we believe you need. We will raise your children, determine what is entertainment suitable and provide the required guidance for saving are beloved Gaia. Worship us, for we are Providence and have dominion over all. All that is required from you is obedience and taxes.
Guess which family actually does lead a pretty simple existence? Via Taranto, who also links to this scam in footprint-eradication boondoggledom:
Hollywood’s wealthy liberals can now avoid any guilt they might feel for consuming so much non-renewable fossil fuel in their private jets, their SUVs, and their multiple air-conditioned mansions. This year’s Oscar goodie bag contained gift certificates representing 100,000 pounds of greenhouse gas reductions from TerraPass, which describes itself as a “carbon offset retailer.”
The 100,000 pounds “are enough to balance out an average year in the life of an Academy Award presenter,” a press release from TerraPass asserts. “For example, 100,000 pounds is the total amount of carbon dioxide created by 20,000 miles of driving, 40,000 miles on commercial airlines, 20 hours in a private jet and a large house in Los Angeles.
The greenhouse gas reductions will be accomplished through TerraPass’ [program] of verified wind energy, cow power [collecting methane from manure] and efficiency projects.” Voila, guilt-free consumption!
Okay, be critical if you must, but Al Gore’s toaster makes the best toast.
Posted by Margos Maid on 2007 02 28 at 05:52 AM • permalinkMy hypocrisy meter went through the roof when Algore and Leo discussed at the Academy Awards what the motion picture industry was doing to decrease CO2 production. Are they kidding? These people think nothing of chartering a private plane just to fly one actor or director across the globe. Their support of efforts against global warming is designed simply to make them seem less shallow and self-centered than they actually are. And to counter the claim that they are too chicken shit to combat the actual and immediate threat to humanity: jihadi terrrorism.
Posted by wronwright on 2007 02 28 at 05:53 AM • permalinkIn retrospect, big Al probably should have settled for a mini-bar in one of the back rooms instead of this.
Posted by Margos Maid on 2007 02 28 at 05:57 AM • permalinkI think it is unfair to suggest Gore doesn’t care about his energy consumption. You want proof?
Here is a photo showing the hired help at the Gore mansion changing a fuse.
Posted by Margos Maid on 2007 02 28 at 06:08 AM • permalinkThe Gores probably need a little extra electricity to counter the infamous Gore Effect.
Doesn’t everybody dry their hair this way?
Posted by Margos Maid on 2007 02 28 at 06:13 AM • permalinkFumbling around the garden shed in the dark can be dangerous. Shouldn’t everybody have a shed like the Gores?
Posted by Margos Maid on 2007 02 28 at 06:17 AM • permalinkOh look honey, it’s Al’s carbon footprint
Posted by Margos Maid on 2007 02 28 at 06:47 AM • permalinkOf course there is a quiet corner of the Gore residence to remember a budgerigar that died in a cold snap when Al returned recently from a speaking tour.
Rest in peace little buddy.
Posted by Margos Maid on 2007 02 28 at 07:00 AM • permalinkof course he need a lot of power to run his computer- deep thought, the one he used to invent the internet
Posted by eeniemeenie on 2007 02 28 at 07:49 AM • permalinkI say Good For Gore ~ after all, a rising sea level lifts all boats.
Posted by Nova Scotia Mike on 2007 02 28 at 08:10 AM • permalinkAnyone else struck by the irony of a political movement that rails against conspicuous consumption suddenly celebrating someone consuming 20+ times the average amount of electricity?
And let’s not even talk about his air travel or other homes.
Posted by Rob Crawford on 2007 02 28 at 08:42 AM • permalink“Thrifty families are all alike; every carbon-devouring family is carbon-devouring in its own way.”—Leo Tolstoy
Posted by Paul Zrimsek on 2007 02 28 at 09:10 AM • permalink#32 Woof, ruff, woof, bark, woof, woof, bark, ruff, ruff, woof. [“My” card was kept on the bottom of the deck by sleight of paw.] I guess my dog is smarter than the average celebrity.
Posted by andycanuck on 2007 02 28 at 10:00 AM • permalinkDoes anyone know for sure that Gore’s electricity is carbon producing? I think that Tennessee’s grid is nearly entirely nuclear or hydro, which would make his consumption unseemly but not necessarily hypocritical.
I have trouble trusting the carbon offset people. Are those things real? Seriously, if I pay them 100 bucks they plant a tree or something? My gut instinct is that it’s all a scam and either they do nothing at all, or they don’t actually offset enough carbon to make a difference.
Posted by Matt Moore on 2007 02 28 at 10:38 AM • permalinkDoes anyone know for sure that Gore’s electricity is carbon producing?
Gore apparently pays extra to “ensure” his power comes from “clean” sources. However, if he weren’t using so damned much of it, there’d be more to go around for other people, and less need for generating power with coal.
Posted by Rob Crawford on 2007 02 28 at 10:47 AM • permalinkMatt, for auditing’s sake, I suspect that most of these “green indulgence” companies do invest in “green” projects.
OTOH, that’s probably one helluva cash flow they have, which means that even a small “administrative overhead” probably reaps a pretty good net. I’d be interested in see just what their overhead really is.
Anyone remember the scandal here in the US, where the executives of a major charity organization were living really high off the hog? Same thing, it would seem.
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2007 02 28 at 10:57 AM • permalinkLosing presidential candidates usually have the grace to take a step back into oblivion but in the Democrats’ happy place, divorced from policy and adulthood, Al can still be Chief and run a cloudcuckooland where one can overlook small stuff like the troublesome complications of climate science, Darfur, AIDS, the need for clean water, malaria rates, corrupt governance, Islamism and illiteracy and obsess sanctimoniously about the weather.
Yo Matt at #34.
We have been talking mainly about his electric bill. His gas bill averaged $1080 in addition to his electric bill. That was 30,000 in total payments for the year. We have an all electric home here in Tucson. Our electric bill in the summer is usually around $150.00.
And we are only taling about one of his homes here.
TVA, our wholesale electric provider here in Nashville, is mostly coal-fired. There are a few wind turbines scattered about East Tennessee, a couple of nuclear plants, and some hydro.
My house, about 3 miles from the Goracle’s, is roughly 1/3 the square footage but I don’t require a live-in staff of 6 to roll me out of bed in the morning. Nor do I have an outdoor Olympic-sized pool heated to 103 degrees 24/7.
Posted by Some0Seppo on 2007 02 28 at 11:45 AM • permalink#33 Andrew Lowenstein has the same problem—only he wasn’t drinking coffee (not that there’s anything wrong with it).
Hydro is also disfoavored by the greenies, as it interferes with fish populations (although beavers seem to get a pass.) It’s funny, Woody Guthrie was singing in the 1930s about how wonderful FDR was for creating jobs by putting in a bunch of hydroelectric dams along the Columbia River—nowadays the Left decries those self-same dams.
“Dickless here gave in to the RWDBs and turned off the Manbearpig Containment Grid.”
Posted by Paul Zrimsek on 2007 02 28 at 12:20 PM • permalinkTreacher ponders,
It’s great that he’s using solar panels and all that, but notice he’s not disputing how huge his electric bill still is. What the hell is he doing in there?
Has anyone considered the possibility that he’s got a giant underground marijuana farm? There was one out here in the California desert recently that was detected primarily due to massive electric bills, which seemed completely out of place for a residential customer.
Posted by Spiny Norman on 2007 02 28 at 12:26 PM • permalinkHow many families do you think we’ll be able to house in the Gore manse after the Revolution?
We have an all electric home here in Tucson. Our electric bill in the summer is usually around $150.00.
You’re kidding. We too have an all electric home (two people who don’t consume much of anything, <2000sf). If we have a heat wave that requires 24 hr AC for a week or more, we’re looking at a $300 bill easy (last summer’s heat wave=$400+). ‘Course, this is California and we’re (dis)served by PG&E (you should see our bills with all their “peak hour” computations—need a rocket scientist to decipher it—Zoe, are you out there?).
Posted by Kyda Sylvester on 2007 02 28 at 01:45 PM • permalinkyojimbo -
Thanks, I missed the paragraph that mentioned the 1k per month on gas. Clearly gas ain’t carbon neutral.
C.L. -
I thought there were no Oscar goodie bags this year because of tax concerns. Perhaps this is proof that (at least by the IRS’s reckoning) carbon credits are effectively worthless?
Posted by Matt Moore on 2007 02 28 at 03:05 PM • permalinkIn all seriousness, the glitterati may find themselves hoisted by their own petards if the global warming hysteria results in carbon taxes causing substantial declines in living standards. These jetsetters might find their multi-car, multi-home, multi-jet lifestyles arousing more contempt than envy. Marie Antoinette, indeed.
I myself am becoming increasingly interested in banning private jet travel. Let Leo and Gwynneth and the rest get probed by airport security like us regular peons. Perhaps a good probing would be the best thing for Ms. Paltrow, actually.
Posted by Percy Dovetonsils on 2007 02 28 at 03:09 PM • permalinkI found a response on the tax question from the co-founder of TerraPass on this post. The total value of the gift bag (a sculpture of some sort and the credits) was under 600 bucks and therefore not taxable.
Posted by Matt Moore on 2007 02 28 at 03:21 PM • permalinkThe Lohachara Sculptures included in the goodie bags look like hand-blown glass. Doesn’t glass blowing require temperatures of 1200+ degrees(F)? tsk tsk
Posted by Kyda Sylvester on 2007 02 28 at 04:04 PM • permalink#56—I am. That is the name of the first new episode of the year.
#58—that is why they went to the cheaper versions. The IRS is not going to worry about $500 gift bags. But in the past few years, the gift bags were getting insane, so the IRS probably was starting to look into them.
#59—they are a huge scam. Now, how can we make money off of it?
#34 Careful Matt, looks like you’re trying to use your brain. For the common good, only approved party personnel may dictate your opinions. You have been warned. Remember, the debate is over!
Posted by dean martin on 2007 02 28 at 06:40 PM • permalink
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alGore is doing Gaia’s work, which takes a lot of
hubrispomposityfoodenergy. What eggs are to an omelet, massive energy consumption is to a neutral carbon foot print. Besides, he can afford it, unlike most of the peons he wouldlord it overtry to help live with gorbal worming. We need to have a little understanding, here. Very little understanding.