Sustainable al

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Last updated on August 6th, 2017 at 01:54 pm

Everybody should follow Al Gore’s example on energy use.

UPDATE. In other envirogandist developments, last night the ABC aired a three-month-old Canadian assault on dissent that may have exceeded safe levels for repetition of the word “consensus”.

Posted by Tim B. on 02/27/2007 at 02:36 AM
    1. Bolta has a similar post. Who could not laugh when the dolts doing the red carpet interviews intoned about the ‘limos and hybrid vehicles’ drawing up?

      None of these pea-brained dimbos have any kind expectations that Gore would practice what he preaches. After all the fawning of Leo the ‘eco-warrior’ I had to wipe the screen down.

      Posted by Nic on 2007 02 27 at 02:41 AM • permalink

 

    1. Maybe Algore is planning on moving to Geothermia.  After all, we have no choice.

      Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2007 02 27 at 02:41 AM • permalink

 

    1. I leave the airconditioning on at home during the day for the dogs. There’s 2 of us in a 4 bedroom house, and we have 6 TVs (each with DVD player/recorder)- 2 of them widescreens, 2 HiFis with over 100w rms per channel output (1 of them 6 channels), a PA system and valve powered guitar amp, and we have 3 fridges and 2 upright freezers. We also have a 10kg industrial washer and matching dryer, despite usually having less than a quarter load whenever it’s run. All bulbs are incandescent, and we couldn’t be arsed with insulation, just turn up the aircon. 3 out of our 5 current vehicles are turbocharged.

      Posted by Habib on 2007 02 27 at 02:42 AM • permalink

 

    1. With his utility and grocery bills, this doomsaying shite must be a handsome little earner.

      Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2007 02 27 at 02:45 AM • permalink

 

    1. We also had to have an 80 amp line fuse put on the pole outside our place, because we kept blowing the 45amp one with load. We also commute regularly (and unnecessarily) from the north and south coast, usually just going up or down overnight to go out to dinner, see some shit band or just blow Brisbane. Small change compared to a wattage wideboy like Al, but at least we’re doing our bit to ward off the next ice age.

      Posted by Habib on 2007 02 27 at 02:45 AM • permalink

 

    1. And we leave a TV going for the dogs as well, so they can catch up on their ZZZs during Oprah. And I keep leaving the spa on, so I don’t have to fuck with a ph tester or clean off any algae. We also leave the aircon going at the office overnight and all weekend, as it takes 15 minutes to cool down in the morning if you switch it off.

      Posted by Habib on 2007 02 27 at 02:47 AM • permalink

 

    1. I can’t overstate how much I hope the Democrats nominate this guy in ‘08.  Considering the Gore Effect, and now the revelation that Gore is basically trying to make us pay for his sins, righty blogs are gonna have a field day taking him down on the only issue that makes him halfway relevant these days.

      Posted by Mark V. on 2007 02 27 at 02:52 AM • permalink

 

    1. It is a bizarre world where it boils down to the MSM v. The Denialists. Is investigative journalism just a label of no substance, like a flag of convenience?

      Posted by blogstrop on 2007 02 27 at 02:58 AM • permalink

 

    1. I need just the facts of GW. How much sunscreen do I need? When should I move the beach blanket to keep it out of the surf?

      Posted by papertiger on 2007 02 27 at 03:01 AM • permalink

 

    1. TRJ.

      We already have Geothermia here in the Hunter Valley. It’s just that the Al-armists haven’t a clue about appropriate terms. Geothermal energy is heat-generating energy derived from geothermal activity. It includes winning coal and burning it to create consumable energy.

      Posted by mareeS on 2007 02 27 at 03:02 AM • permalink

 

    1. Wait till the greenie/lefties see Wall Street clean up on ‘carbon credit’ deals.

      I see the current Gerbil W0rming hysteria lasting maybe eighteen months to two years from now.

      Posted by Squiffy on 2007 02 27 at 03:25 AM • permalink

 

    1. My electric bill is fifty bucks a month, and my car gets 40 mpg. I’m at least 25 times the friend of Gaia that Albertus Magnus is. It’s not because I believe one iota in Goebbels Warning. It’s because:

      A) I don’t want to put one penny more in a terrorist’s hands than I have to, and

      B) I’d rather spend my money on beer, porn and motorcycles.

      Posted by Dave S. on 2007 02 27 at 03:27 AM • permalink

 

    1. #12 – Another ingenius disguise. Pity you couldn’t do anything about your stench.

      TEX LOVERA you are not.

      Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2007 02 27 at 03:28 AM • permalink

 

    1. # Habib

      When can I move in?

      Posted by Pogria on 2007 02 27 at 03:31 AM • permalink

 

    1. Got this on another website about the Green Power Gore uses :

      I just went over to Think Progress; be glad the liberals we have over here are somewhat smart—you should see what is going on over there. Think Progress says Gore is purchasing 100% of his power through Green Power Switch, a program run by the TVA to use 100% renewable resources to generate power.

      Green Power Switch claims to get power from three types of renewable resources: Solar, wind, and methane.

      A quick examination of the clickthroughs on each type brings me to the following conclusion:

      a) The total solar power generation capability of the TVA generates electricity in sufficient quantities to power about 50 “average tennessee valley homes” for a year, or about 2.5 Gores per year.

      b) Wind power amounts to 29 megawatts, or enough power for 3,700 “average tennessee valley homes”, or about 185 Gores per year.

      c) TVA’s methane gas processes are equivalent to 20,000 tons of coal per year, and convert methane gas into CO2 prior to releasing it into the atmosphere. Per this reference, we obtain that a ton of coal produces 2000 kilowatts; therefore 20000 tons of coal produces 40 megawatts per year (255 Gores/year).

      Hence, Gore’s “Green Power Switch” actually produces a substantial amount of CO2 (about 4/7 that of normal power generation), and the green capability of the entire TVA can satisfy only about 443 Gore-sized footprints per year.

      I think the claim that Gore is abusing his carbon footprint still stands, and, in addition, he must purchase carbon offsets equal to 4/7 the cost of his excess power use over an “average tennessee valley home” to counter the CO2 generation from the methane component of his green power.
      Posted by: unclesmrgol [TypeKey Profile Page] at February 27, 2007 12:59 AM

      Posted by dick on 2007 02 27 at 03:34 AM • permalink

 

    1. #15

      O-oh! Dead man walking.

      Posted by Pogria on 2007 02 27 at 03:35 AM • permalink

 

    1. buys green power (nuclear

      Hey, nuclear is green now. Christ, you need a scorecard.

      Timmys readers please feel free to reinsert your heads in the sand

      Feel free to de-insert your head from your ass. Bitter little masturbatory loser. Get a life.

      Posted by Dave S. on 2007 02 27 at 03:36 AM • permalink

 

    1. In Parliament today the Womble apparently peppered Ian McFarlane with questions demanding to know if he’d met with Ron Walker or any of the other businessmen associated with an entirely exploratory company which is merely studying the commercial viability of nuclear energy plants. Howard got in on the hilariosly stupid “scandal” by revealing that he’d once seen Rudd talking to Walker at the soccer!! Welcome to the global warming religious cult where even speaking to an advocate of nuclear power will see you grilled in the House of Representatives by the zealots of the Labor Party.

      Posted by C.L. on 2007 02 27 at 03:39 AM • permalink

 

    1. Wait, Gore pays a higher price for nuclear power than he’d have to for coal-generated power? That means he’s dumber than I thought. Thanks to our troll for that enlightening little factoid!

      Posted by PW on 2007 02 27 at 03:44 AM • permalink

 

    1. #13, Dave S,

      exactly the reason we have installed curly light bulbs supplied for free by the local energy authority, own one car in the family (you can’t drink & drive, so drinking is better), shower at the local beach after our morning swim, and walk everywhere we need to go, unlike Al. Unless we’re travelling. That’s when it gets down to tin tacks. Like Al, we think, bugger the atmosphere, the planet etc. We want to go there so we’ll go there. We’re doing our bit at home with the walking and no-cost bulbs, why not bust some other country’s carbon budget? Carbon credits are cheap as chips now, anyway.

      Posted by mareeS on 2007 02 27 at 03:44 AM • permalink

 

    1. It doesn’t matter if the energy Gore uses is “green” or not, as the amount of energy produced is finite. Basically, if you’re out there sucking up all the green energy available to power your luxurious lifestyle, then there is no green energy for anyone else. Thus, you indirectly contribute to increased CO2 emissions by forcing others to use non-green energy sources for their power needs.

      Posted by JSchuler on 2007 02 27 at 03:47 AM • permalink

 

    1. A think a key point that global warmistas have to get through their heads is that consensus is a political term, not a scientific one – once upon a time ‘the consensus’ was that the world was flat. the consensus was wrong.

      Posted by Harry Buttle on 2007 02 27 at 03:50 AM • permalink

 

    1. #15

      Sorry Dick, this is the second time this has happened. I was talking to the troll that was in #15 before Tim and Andrea rightly wiped him.

      Posted by Pogria on 2007 02 27 at 03:52 AM • permalink

 

    1. Let’s face it, folks.  The only people serious about “being green” are those that save money in the process.  Algore doesn’t need to save money, as he has all those suckers concerned people sliding mucho dinero into his pockets.

      The intellectual elite:  the bane of the environment.

      Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2007 02 27 at 03:55 AM • permalink

 

    1. Sounds like probable cause for a search warrant. Often dope growers use grow lights that suck up power, and having an above-average power bill can trigger the attention of the po-po.

      Posted by Ernst Blofeld on 2007 02 27 at 03:56 AM • permalink

 

    1. Maybe it’s not Al’s fault, but his kid’s fault.

      Grow-Lamps really suck up the juice.

      Posted by Thomas on 2007 02 27 at 03:58 AM • permalink

 

    1. Maybe Algore is planning on moving to Geothermia.

      BTW, does “Geothermia” sound to anyone else like “a place where hot air is abundant”? That would certainly make it an appropriate destination for all the eco-preachers.

      Posted by PW on 2007 02 27 at 03:58 AM • permalink

 

    1. Pogria,

      Da nada.

      I just thought it as interesting that Algore thought that citing Green Power from tVA would make up for all his excesses but he would use up almost all the Green Power the TVA generates himself.  I also think that the carbon credits just means that someone else is going to pay for his excesses.  All in all just more hypocrisy from one who specializes in it.

      I wonder if Tipper ever goes around and turns off the lights.

      Posted by dick on 2007 02 27 at 04:01 AM • permalink

 

    1. Margo Kingston, one of Australia’s most fearless political journalists, thinks it’s crunch time for Australia.

      With Bartlweet!

      Posted by PW on 2007 02 27 at 04:16 AM • permalink

 

    1. D’oh, wrong thread. How’d I do that now?

      Posted by PW on 2007 02 27 at 04:17 AM • permalink

 

    1. #1 Nic
      Who could not laugh when the dolts doing the red carpet interviews intoned about the ‘limos and hybrid vehicles’ drawing up?

      Yeah, rael funny eh?
      First take your private Gulfstream or Learjey to LAX, then jump in a Prius to downtown Kodak Theatre.

      Only real picky bastards would find fault with that. Sheeesh, I don’t know, picky bastards…..

      Posted by Bonmot on 2007 02 27 at 04:17 AM • permalink

 

    1. Habib – once again you efing rock!!!

      I thought I was doing well just running the ac all night and driving a 5.7ltr getting high fuel usage in peak hour traffic.

      Posted by Razor on 2007 02 27 at 04:24 AM • permalink

 

    1. Hey, he’s doing Gaia’s work here, so cut him a very generous amount of slack.  We all know that you have to break eggs to make omelets, spend money to make money, and use outrageous amounts of energy to get people to stop using outrageous amounts of energy.

      Besides, he’s Mr. Cool, now.  That means he can act just like the rest of the Hollywood porn stars that gave him an Oscar.  Rank hath its privileges, after all, and they don’t come any ranker than that bunch.

      Posted by saltydog on 2007 02 27 at 04:33 AM • permalink

 

    1. nice to see cbc following the bbc, which prodiced a show recently screened on the abc 🙂

      The BBC show was purportedly on El Nino.  q enough, on a show about changing weather patterns in the pacific, the flip side of el nino, la nina, was not mentioned even once.
      Some interesting background: the show was made a couple of years ago, and was only screened on Aunty a couple of weeks ago.
      Three Australians were interviewed.  I know all of then quite well.  Apparently the interviewer knew exactly what she wanted them to say, and kept going at it (complete with bright lights, and the fact she was attractive) until she got a close enough approximation to what she wanted.  An awful lot ended up on the cutting room floor.

      Posted by entropy on 2007 02 27 at 04:38 AM • permalink

 

    1. i’m sure al gore has already received indulgences by paying alms in the form of carbon credits.

      Posted by drscroogemcduck on 2007 02 27 at 04:40 AM • permalink

 

    1. “…the ABC aired a three month old Canadian…”
      Maybe its a ‘clearance sale’ before the “strict balance” guide-lines come in this March.

      Posted by chrisgo on 2007 02 27 at 04:42 AM • permalink

 

    1. “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. As a result of his energy consumption, Gore’s average monthly electric bill topped $1,359.”
      “Since the release of An Inconvenient Truth, Gore’s energy consumption has increased from an average of 16,200 kWh per month in 2005, to 18,400 kWh per month in 2006.”
      “Gore’s extravagant energy use does not stop at his electric bill. Natural gas bills for Gore’s mansion and guest house averaged $1,080 per month last year.”

      Al Gore is an asshole.

      Posted by Dave Surls on 2007 02 27 at 05:11 AM • permalink

 

    1. And that was just one house.

      Posted by saltydog on 2007 02 27 at 05:40 AM • permalink

 

 

    1. The time has now been reached where the name Gore should gain its rightful place in the lexicon of science. Great scientists over the ages have had various forms of measurement named after them. The Debye length, the Coulomb of charge, the Tesla magnetic flux density, the Swarzschild radius to name a few.

      The SI unit for energy is the joule, named after James Prescott Joule, however alongside Gore he is a scientific nobody and so I propose that a new macroscopic energy unit be defined. It is to equal 10 MwH (megawatt-hours) and is to be named the Gore. It is equal to the yearly power useage of the average American household and in SI terms equals 3.6 x 10^11 Joules.

      So again, the average American household uses 1 Gore of energy pa, the entire population of North Korea use 0.2 Gores pa and Al himself uses 20 Gores pa. It’s much easier to look at energy this way rather than use all those awkward exponents. And besides, the man deserves it.

      Posted by Whale Spinor on 2007 02 27 at 07:04 AM • permalink

 

    1. The “Gore” is a measure of hypocrisy, reached only by a consensus.

      Posted by Rob Read on 2007 02 27 at 08:56 AM • permalink

 

    1. Capt. Ed on Gore’s purchasing carbon credits:

      Second, as I mentioned above, purchasing offsets only means that Gore doesn’t want to make the same kind of sacrifices that he’s asking other families to make. He’s using a modern form of indulgences in order to avoid doing the penance that global-warming activism demands of others. It means that the very rich can continue to suck up energy and raise the price and the demand for electricity and natural gas, while families struggle with their energy costs and face increasing government regulation and taxation. It’s a regressive plan that Gore’s supporters would decry if the same kind of scheme were applied to a national sales tax, for instance.

      Link

      Posted by Hellbilly on 2007 02 27 at 10:02 AM • permalink

 

    1. #40 -Rob,

      I don’t know if you stole that line, but I’m stealing it as well.

      No copyright infringment claims will be honored or royalties paid.

      Posted by joe bagadonuts on 2007 02 27 at 10:13 AM • permalink

 

    1. And not to mention all the GW carbon expenditures that went into building his palace.

      What’s the matter Al, a double-wide not good enough for you?

      Posted by rbj1 on 2007 02 27 at 10:20 AM • permalink

 

    1. Very good news for Australians worried about how their kitty cat’s noxious fumes are causing polar bear deaths.

      HT: Dave Barry, of course.

      Posted by SoberHT on 2007 02 27 at 10:24 AM • permalink

 

    1. Al should burn polar bears to keep warm in the winter.

      Posted by Mystery Meat on 2007 02 27 at 10:32 AM • permalink

 

    1. I think that using the term “Gore” to measure both energy and hypocrisy is confusing.  May I suggest the following convention?

      1.  “Gore” = unit of measure for energy

      2.  “Gored” = unit of measure for hypocrisy

      Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2007 02 27 at 10:40 AM • permalink

 

    1. Compare Al’s home (or John Edward’s) with the Evil One’s ranch house in Crawford, Texas:
      Is Bush a Closet Green?

      Posted by bugscuffle on 2007 02 27 at 11:35 AM • permalink

 

    1. Oops:  my link doesn’t work.  I’m kinda new to this.

      In any event, the treehugger.com article describes the presidents modest 4500 sq foot ranch house and all its greenie amenities.  Check it out!

      Posted by bugscuffle on 2007 02 27 at 11:39 AM • permalink

 

    1. Well, my neighbor Al has stepped in it again. I kept telling him that you don’t heat your Olympic pool like it’s a hot tub, but did he listen? Nooooooo.

      Posted by Some0Seppo on 2007 02 27 at 11:57 AM • permalink

 

    1. Gore isn’t going to run for president.  He’s making a lot more money and getting a lot more adulation running one of the biggest scams on the planet.  And it’s legal, too.

      Posted by RebeccaH on 2007 02 27 at 11:59 AM • permalink

 

    1. Thanks, bugscuffle, for reminding us that President Bush walks the walk. Here’s a corrected link. Quite a contrast to the Gore’s and the Edwards (and even the Clinton’s with their NY and DC manses) who only talk the talk. And take the money.

      I dunno, Rebecca. Al was raised to be POTUS. It’s hard to shake off the mantle of destiny (especially after Florida). No doubt Al thinks he can have it all. Have there been any Tipper sightings of late? Last I saw of her (well over a year ago), she was really, really tipping the scales (as opposed to Al who’s only really tipping the scales). Hard to campaign for president with Orca by your side.

      #5 & 6—talk about your conspicuous consumption.

      NEWS FLASH: Michael Jackson has reverted!

      Posted by Kyda Sylvester on 2007 02 27 at 12:47 PM • permalink

 

    1. Michael Jackson has reverted to what-I’m afraid to ask.  (I know, his religion, but it was an easy joke)

      I thought Tipper attended the Awards with the alGore.

      Posted by yojimbo on 2007 02 27 at 01:12 PM • permalink

 

    1. I thought Tipper attended the Awards with the alGore.

      Did she? I didn’t watch (and I didn’t hear word one about her). How’d she look?

      Posted by Kyda Sylvester on 2007 02 27 at 01:17 PM • permalink

 

    1. Carbon credits. Feh.

      Reminds me of the sins that Catholics were allowed to “purchase” in Martin Luther’s time. A way for the guilty to feel better.

      Turn off your lights so the Hollywood dandies can live in the lap of luxury. No thanks.

      Posted by fugazi on 2007 02 27 at 01:41 PM • permalink

 

    1. Didn’t watch that much myself.  As I remember(whoa!) she didn’t look too bad at all.

      As always with a Yojimbo, trust but verify.

      Posted by yojimbo on 2007 02 27 at 01:41 PM • permalink

 

    1. Well, good for Tipper. Self-discipline is often hard won (how well I know).

      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.

      If so, they’ve done it only recently. From an 8/9/06 opinion piece in USA Today:

      Then there is the troubling matter of his energy use. In the Washington, D.C., area, utility companies offer wind energy as an alternative to traditional energy. In Nashville, similar programs exist. Utility customers must simply pay a few extra pennies per kilowatt hour, and they can continue living their carbon-neutral lifestyles knowing that they are supporting wind energy. Plenty of businesses and institutions have signed up. Even the Bush administration is using green energy for some federal office buildings, as are thousands of area residents.

      But according to public records, there is no evidence that Gore has signed up to use green energy in either of his large residences. When contacted Wednesday, Gore’s office confirmed as much but said the Gores were looking into making the switch at both homes. Talk about inconvenient truths.

      Posted by Kyda Sylvester on 2007 02 27 at 03:00 PM • permalink

 

    1. Andy Ostroy has a goregasim:

      So wait, he’s hip, he’s brilliant, he’s highly experienced. Is America ready for a real leader after two terms of a guy who makes Jim Carrey’s “Dumb and Dumber” character seem downright cerebral? You bet your asinine Bush-isms it is.

      I even have the perfect campaign slogan for Gore: “Imagine how it would’ve been.”

      Just imagine what the country would be like today had he become president in 2000 and not Bush. Imagine an America without this bloody debacle in Iraq. Imagine an America that commands the respect of its allies and is feared by its enemies. Imagine an America that puts the environment before big corporate interests. Imagine having a president who strives to bridge the gap between rich and poor, where the middle class, not the wealthy, gets the tax breaks, and where the minimum wage is not a shameful $5.15. Pretty powerful stuff on the campaign trail, huh?

      Posted by Kyda Sylvester on 2007 02 27 at 03:54 PM • permalink

 

    1. “The so-called consensus on global warming is a manufactured one built by those whose careers depend on acceptance of climate change fundamentalism. And the peer-review process means drawing peers from the same global warming orthodoxy milieu as the authors.”
      Janet A, today in The Australian.

      Posted by blogstrop on 2007 02 27 at 05:08 PM • permalink

 

    1. #58 I don’t have to imagine a Gore presidency, I already saw it in the Carter presidency.

      Posted by dean martin on 2007 02 27 at 06:20 PM • permalink

 

    1. Imagine an America with 3 or 4 major cities replaced with radioactive craters.

      Posted by Vexorg on 2007 02 27 at 06:23 PM • permalink

 

    1. #3 habib –

      “…we couldn’t be arsed with insulation, just turn up the aircon…”

      Meanwhile, here we’re upgrading insulation, windows and so on to cut down on our electric bill (the heat pump is lovely in the summer and winter here).

      Which means more money available for the ammo fund.

      Everybody wins.

      Posted by steveH on 2007 02 27 at 06:28 PM • permalink

 

    1. Imagine an America that commands the respect of its allies and is feared by its enemies. Imagine an America that puts the environment before big corporate interests. Imagine having a president who strives to bridge the gap between rich and poor, where the middle class, not the wealthy, gets the tax breaks, and where the minimum wage is not a shameful $5.15.

      I guess Vice President Gore couldn’t swing all that neat stuff under the oppressive yoke of right-wing Republican President Bill Clinton.

      Posted by Dave S. on 2007 02 27 at 06:52 PM • permalink

 

    1. The CBC BBC ABC reports that Geothermia has always been the enemy. We have always been at war with Geothermia.

      Posted by andycanuck on 2007 02 27 at 07:38 PM • permalink

 

    1. Well folks, that 10,000 sf palace in Nashville is just one of Al and Tipper’s many homes. He hasn’t disposed of his ancestral home in Carthage, Tennessee, and he still has their suburban Washington home in Arlington, Virginia. In 2005 he bought a condo in the St. Regis tower in San Francisco. So Al and Tipper have a little bigger energy footprint than they are admitting to.

      I’d be embarrassed to to lecture the rest of us about choice, but for these scolds, there’s no shame being a lifestyle liberal.

      Posted by Forbes on 2007 02 27 at 07:41 PM • permalink

 

    1. Forget Gore, Eco-Salvation is here

      Posted by Hellbilly on 2007 02 27 at 07:54 PM • permalink

 

    1. As has been stated many times by many people, global cooling global warming climate change is a religion.

      Hey, it worked for L. Ron Hubbard.  Al’s just tying to get in on that tasty religious cult money.

      Posted by fclark on 2007 02 27 at 08:03 PM • permalink

 

    1. I would like to report that Media Watch (following the 4 Corners wrist-slitter) was uncharacteristically watchable.

      Posted by anthony_r on 2007 02 27 at 09:11 PM • permalink

 

    1. Such a hypocrite- this item from Roger L Simons blog page-
      February 27, 2007
      Bolton Bashes Bush
      Well, not exactly. But he did say this to Kyodo News: “I think the deal violates the principle that President Bush followed during his first term in office that we don’t reward bad behavior, especially by rogue states and proliferators like North Korea,” [former US UN Ambassador John] Bolton said.

      He was talking about the recent six-party talks agreement with the NORKS. He added: “My concern is that we had North Korea in a corner after the nuclear test and now we’ve helped them get out of the corner,” he said, pointing to the resumption of talks between the two Koreas, the probability that Seoul will resume the flow of aid to Pyongyang stopped after the nuclear test and reports that Australia will resume diplomatic ties with the North Koreans.

      Bolton, the assistant secretary for international security and nonproliferation at the State Department before his stint as U.N. ambassador, said North Korea will not give up its nuclear program voluntarily and will inevitably cheat on the agreement.

      Is Bolton right? Most probably. At least past experience makes it look that way.

      Posted by Roger L. Simon at 03:38 PM
      Email this post February 26, 2007
      Gore, hypocrisy and the “politics of me”
      Al Gore must be pretty embarrassed this evening seeing the headline at the top of the Drudge Report: POWER: GORE MANSION USES 20X AVERAGE HOUSEHOLD; CONSUMPTION INCREASE AFTER ‘TRUTH’. You almost feel sorry for the guy. He can’t catch a break the day after he wins an Oscar. (Okay, it was a gift. The movie as film was tenth-rate. But he did win.)

      But there’s a deeper question beneath all this. Does hypocrisy count? Does it matter than Hollywood stars parade around in Priuses while keeping private planes and multiple homes that burn up who-knows-how much energy (in many cases enough to dwarf Al’s)? Is it just that these people mouth off that raises our eyebrows or should they actually practice what they preach ?

      Now I don’t have a particularly Green Lifestyle, although I am thinking of buying a hybrid for my next car (primarily because I can’t stand to stick another dollar in the Saudi gas pump) and the next time I build something I’ll probably pay more attention to good window sealing (the code will probably make me do that anyway). But what’s with Gore? How could he be so thoughtless and, yes, arrogant to go out there banging the drum for his film at the very time, according to public records, he increased his already sizable personal energy consumption. How embarrassing and how terrible for his cause. Maybe he doesn’t really care about it at bottom – maybe it’s all about him.

      In the movie business you see a lot of that, a kind of narcissistic politics in which how you appear is so much more important than what you really are. It’s as if there were two people – the private one bossing around the staffs while burning up more fuel than the Sultan of Brunei and the public one wagging a finger at the rest of us. Gore seems to have fit in well with these folks. In the long run, I suspect that doesn’t augur well for the environment.

      UPDATE: In Gore defense, the ex-veep apparently did purchase some “Green Power” chits for his manse. But I was just on the Steve Gill’s Tennessee talk radio show where it was pointed out this is one of but three Gore homes – and no one seems to know how much time he even spends there. Plus… there’s always the use of Gulfstreams, etc., to ferry Al to his next (well paid) global warming extravaganza. Who knows the total of his “carbon footprint” but it’s probably bigger that 99.99% of humanity’s. Still.. it’s only hypocrisy. For the right cause, no problem. Right. Right?

      Posted by Hillyminx on 2007 02 27 at 09:21 PM • permalink

 

    1. If I could do a bit of Fisking here:

      Imagine an America that commands the respect of its allies and is feared by its enemies.

      Not hard to imagine, as such exists today. Oops, I forgot, since we don’t have France and Germany on our side, we have no allies. And Osama is living in luxury laughing at us from the Sudan. Oh wait, that was during the Clinton/Gore administration.
      Imagine an America that puts the environment before big corporate interests.

      Imagine a recession.
      Imagine having a president who strives to bridge the gap between rich and poor…

      Imagine socialism, a tried and true political philosophy.
      …where the middle class, not the wealthy, gets the tax breaks…

      Oh, like Clinton’s increase in the alternative minimum tax that was supposed to soak the rich but which is now hurting the middle class.
      …and where the minimum wage is not a shameful $5.15.

      Yes, let’s keep those inner city kids out of jobs by pricing their labor out of the market.

      Posted by Tommy Shanks on 2007 02 27 at 09:24 PM • permalink

 

    1. SoRry meant to post about ALGORE only

      Posted by Hillyminx on 2007 02 27 at 09:25 PM • permalink

 

    1. The snow level in the Sierras is down to 1200’. How do I know? Because it’s snowing like a sonofabitch here and the sun hasn’t even set yet. Last time we saw snow like this, we were trapped for three days without power. I’m gonna get you for this, Agore.

      Posted by Kyda Sylvester on 2007 02 27 at 09:38 PM • permalink

 

    1. We have our Agore, but who’s Dr. Frankenheight?

      Posted by aaron_ on 2007 02 27 at 09:54 PM • permalink

 

    1. Agore and Frankenheight harness the energy white-liberal guilt to give life to the perfect, yet impulsive and uncontrollable, marketing gimmick.

      Posted by aaron_ on 2007 02 27 at 10:00 PM • permalink

 

    1. Hillyminx, yeah, I hear tulip bulbs take a lot of carbon out of the air too.

      Posted by aaron_ on 2007 02 27 at 10:06 PM • permalink

 

    1. I predict carbon offsets are the next Enron.

      Posted by aaron_ on 2007 02 27 at 10:08 PM • permalink

 

    1. Isn’t disproportionate electricity consumption one of the telltale signs of an illegal drugs lab or hydroponic marijuana setup in the home? Shouldn’t someone be calling the FBI?

      Posted by squawkbox on 2007 02 28 at 03:01 AM • permalink

 

    1. I predict carbon offsets are the next Enron.

      Funny you should say that….

      Posted by xj on 2007 02 28 at 05:45 PM • permalink

 

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