Sunday, March 4, 2007
The Inconvienient and Hypocritical Truth
When it comes to politics, I study the information and make a decision based on that study. I am not a registered Democrat or Republican – I am an Independent.
I am considered liberal with my views on issues such as birth control and a woman’s right to choose. I am a conservative when it comes to education.
So, this entry is no way a Dem-bashing session. I want to clarify that. Plus, my next entry will show how I am an equal opportunity basher when it comes to ignorance and double-talk.
My son wants to save the world. He has been a Creature Crusader, wanting to save endangered species since he was three and found out what endangered species are and why they are endangered. As he got older (he is 12 ½ now), he realized in order to help he creature friends, he need to do his part to save the planet.
When Al Gore’s documentary An Inconvenient Truth came out on DVD, I bought it as a family Christmas gift. We watched and my son was even more inspired and convinced that his mission is life was to help find a way to save everyone and everything. (I am hoping he does, patents it, and takes care of me in my old age.) I also found the statistics and evidence of global warming interesting and stunning.
I cheered for Al as he won the Oscar this year for Best Documentary. Prior to his winning, the Former Veep announced The Oscars were Green this year and making an effort to “reduce its ecological footprint”. Gore went on, with Leo DiCaprio, noted Hollywood environmentalist, by his side that The Oscar’s website could furnish folks in the viewing audience with tips on how to do their part. Awesome! We are all for that and for coastal New England to not be flooded by the melting Polar Icecaps.
But does Al walk the walk? No, according the Tennessee Center for Policy Research’s findings, Gore’s yearly utility bill was $30,000 in 2006 which means he used nearly 221,000 kilowatt hours, more than 20 times the national average.
The Gore Camp scoffs at these finding, saying yes they do use this much energy, but they work out of their home and they are working on installing solar panels. Ummm, yeah and what are the Gores doing about the heated pool, the electric gate, and other things he and his wife use. Solar panels... yeah, we need more of an effort Al
I have a problem with Al being toted by Melissa Ethridge (who actually looked as she may jump him at the Oscars) et al. as the “Environmental Messiah” when it appears he isn’t making a conscious effort “to do his part”.
Al, you want people to take you and global warming seriously like my son who is part of the future generations you talk about who will inherit this environmental mess of a planet – walk the walk.
Or better yet, make another documentary showing us all how difficult it is to make lifestyle changes in order to be more environmentally friendly. It isn’t easy, especially when most of American do not make tens of thousands of dollars of speaking engagements nor are making millions off of their new Oscar-winning documentary.
Try and get a grip on reality Al.
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2 comments:
You may want to amend those numbers you cite, since the utility company that serves Gore:
A) said that noone contacted them to get those claimed numbers.
and
b) cited different numbers as the actual usage of Gore and the average user.
In otherwords: Your opinion may be valid but the numbers claimed by the "Tennessee Center for Policy Research’s findings" are way off and made up. Needless to say, they are not a very good or ethical policy research group. lol
"the tennessee tax dept. does not consider the "tennessee center for policy research," which roughly no one had heard of before this, a legitimate group. it's run by a long-time right-wing attack hack, and its only registered address is a p.o. box. why is everyone in the media taking what it says about gore's electricity use at face value?
gore's electricity company has no record of being contacted about his bills.
the "average" home electricity use quoted by tcpr is a national average that includes apartments and mobile homes. in gore's climatic zone, the east south central, the average is much higher, thanks to hot, humid summers and cold winters. within that zone, gore's usage is three (not 20) times average, and his per-square-foot usage is squarely average.
the gores are not an average family. he's an ex-vp with special security arrangements, and has live-in security staff. he and his wife both work on their many business and charitable undertakings out of their house, so they have space for offices and office staff. all that would be tough to cram in an average size house.
gore buys the maximum allowable green electricity from the program offered by his utility.
most of the electricity in tn comes from hydro and nuclear, and so doesn't generate all that much co2 anyway." (Via skippy the bush kangaroo)
You might want to search for the real numbers from verified sources since the Asosiated Press covered these falsified claims of that right-wing group in TN.
Thanks for the input. I will certainly look into it. It seems you can't trust anything other than the fact you can't trust anyone to be honest.... well, except for maybe you.
But also, electricity bill are public records so there would be no need to contact anyone for their specific records ( so I am told by the elec. co.)
I love Gore's film, but just wish he and others that have this information would help those who are less educated and less wealthy come up with viable and doable ways for them to save energy and money, other than the light bulbs and recycling.
As always, your opinion is appreciated and welcomed. Hope you like my Coulter blog :)
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