Al Gore, not practicing what he preaches

[lawrocket 3]

It's difficult to say. Heck, even here in Fresno I can buy grapes grown in Peru.

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[billvon 2,434]

>? So burning 20X the fuel in his own home somehow persuades others to consume less?

Are wilderness firefighters who set backfires hypocrites? After all, they say they are putting out forest fires, and they are CAUSING them! If everyone was like them, there would be no forests left in america!

As I said before, Gore is burning fuel to try to get his message out as effectively as he can. If it makes an impact, he will have burned a few acres to save thousands.

>The return on investment in solar panels is clear.

And if Gore can get significant reductions in CO2 emissions through his lectures, they will make the ROI on solar panels look like a bad deal.

[sundevil777 94]

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If Gore can get such an effort kicked off even a few years sooner, he will have done far more for the planet than he has harmed it. I hope he succeeds.

I think he would be more likely to succeed if he set a good example.

People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

[sundevil777 94]

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Are wilderness firefighters who set backfires hypocrites? After all, they say they are putting out forest fires, and they are CAUSING them! If everyone was like them, there would be no forests left in america!

That is perhaps the crappiest analogy you have ever offered.

People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

[willard 0]

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>? So burning 20X the fuel in his own home somehow persuades others to consume less?

Are wilderness firefighters who set backfires hypocrites? After all, they say they are putting out forest fires, and they are CAUSING them! If everyone was like them, there would be no forests left in america!

As I said before, Gore is burning fuel to try to get his message out as effectively as he can. If it makes an impact, he will have burned a few acres to save thousands.

>The return on investment in solar panels is clear.

And if Gore can get significant reductions in CO2 emissions through his lectures, they will make the ROI on solar panels look like a bad deal.

I'd agree that there is bound to be a certain amount of consumption expected in order for Al to spread his message, but there alsao is the expectation that his base of operations sets an example for what they are telling others to do. I'd be willing to bet the thermostats in his house aren't set at 60 in the winter or 70 in the summer. There is a lot he could, and should, do in his own home before telling others what to do in theirs.

[Michele 1]

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I'd agree that there is bound to be a certain amount of consumption expected in order for Al to spread his message, but there alsao is the expectation that his base of operations sets an example for what they are telling others to do. I'd be willing to bet the thermostats in his house aren't set at 60 in the winter or 70 in the summer. There is a lot he could, and should, do in his own home before telling others what to do in theirs.

If I knew that Gore practiced what he preaches, and also used jet planes to do the traveling needed, then I'd be far less inclined to consider him hypocritical. Since he doesn't have solar, doesn't use wind, et cetera, I tend to view him as typical of politicians - telling us one thing and doing another.

Pity, that. He had a great chance.

Ciels-
Michele

~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek
While our hearts lie bleeding?~

[narcimund 0]

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It's hard to evaluate how bad he is

We all have to have a hobby, I guess.

First Class Citizen Twice Over

[DJL 232]

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Sorry, that's a bunch of BS considering who he is. And I'm a Conservative, a Conservationist, and a Mechanical Engineer and Project Manager in the field of designing buildings and homes. Al Gore's house isn't a place to park the car and unwind around the TV set, it's a base of operations for all that Al Gore does. Now that's ONLY saying that it's difficult to make a comparison. The term "luxury" home usually only means that it's in a great location, it's big, and it has the word "luxury" on the marketing material. Most of those places are still made by the cheapest possible means and the first thing you cut is insulation and a quality building envelope, next you go for cheap heating a cooling. I wouldn't doubt that his house is guilty of all of that.

Big deal, my degree is in Architecture including some specialized study in "buildings, climate and energy", and I worked in a CAD bureau that specialized in energy conservation in design decades before it was fashionable. NOTHING is stopping Gore from practicing what he preaches, you cite examples everyone is guilty of, but not everyone jets around chiding the rest of us. You're only highlighting that there can be costs involved, and clearly Gore is unwilling to bear those costs even as he seeks to impose them on the rest of society.

He's just one privileged hog telling the rest of us to consume less even as he increases his consumption.

Actually, no. I'm saying that it's impossible to make a statement about his house without knowing the details. I am also pointing out that buildings are not made with energy in mind unless there is a very specific push to make it efficient.

But indeed, if he's going to get on a soap box then I want to see what he's done in his own life.

-Is he using ground source heating/cooling
-Natural shade
-Rainwater retention
-Adequate insulation
-Material whose production has low environmental impact
-etc.

I seriously doubt it. Not even going down the LEED list, which I actually think is a bunch of esoteric BS.

"I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

[narcimund 0]

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But indeed, if he's going to get on a soap box then I want to see what he's done in his own life.

Why?

First Class Citizen Twice Over

[sundevil777 94]

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But indeed, if he's going to get on a soap box then I want to see what he's done in his own life.

Why?

I thought you had problems with hypocritical politicians.

People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

[narcimund 0]

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Why?

I thought you had problems with hypocritical politicians.

[DJL 232]

Huh?

He's Al Gore, the self described leader of the Green, not a FedEX deliveryman.

"I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

[sundevil777 94]

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I'm curious why others find it so urgent to tear down a messenger. Is that a means of silencing the message? Is it bloodthirst? Is it continuing revenge for clinton's blowjob? Is it maybe something deeper and more sinister?

It is pretty simple, and already described adequately in previous posts.

It would seem you find the value of leading by example to be vastly overrated.

People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

[lawrocket 3]

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I'm curious why others find it so urgent to tear down a messenger. Is that a means of silencing the message? Is it bloodthirst? Is it continuing revenge for clinton's blowjob? Is it maybe something deeper and more sinister?

First - he's not the messenger. He's the speaker. The plane is the messenger. How about if I mounted a large-scale publicity campaign about the evils of publicity campaigns? Maybe I should file a lawsuit against the legal system. Perhaps I should pray to God for atheism.

Al Gore created the message. The message is that excessive energy consumption is bad. Al Gore's energy consumption is, by his definition, excessive. Therefore, either Al Gore is what he despises or he has another motivation..

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[dorbie 0]

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Al Gore's energy consumption is, by his definition, excessive.

Obscene would be a better description.

[lawrocket 3]

I personally don't have a problem with his consumption of energy.

My issue is that HE has a problem with it. It does not take a big man to say, "Yes. I fly a private jet. Yes, Paramount is paying for the credits. And, many people will find the energy that I use in promoting my film to be wasteful and polluting. But, let me run through why I do things the way that I do..."
'

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[kelpdiver 2]

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He's Al Gore, the self described leader of the Green, not a FedEX deliveryman.

I doubt the Green movement considers him their leader. A connected ally, sure.

[mnealtx 0]

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I'm guessing that MOST wealthy households use more electricity than the average ones simply because they're larger.

I'm further guessing that if you have Secret Service surveillance equipment running 24/7 it probably uses quite a bit more than the Brinks security system at my house.

Overall, I'd cut the guy some slack.

Former VPs do not receive a Secret Service detail after they leave office. Only the Presidents get that and under a law signed by President Clinton, they only get it for 10 years after office. That leaves President Clinton as the last President to receive lifetime protection.

Nice, how he excepted himself from his own rule, huh?

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[warpedskydiver 0]

Al gore conserves petroleum by plowing the Cumberland Gap with a pair of salt and pepper mules, while going barefoot and wearing a straw hat.

[NCclimber 0]

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Gore paid nearly $30,000 in combined electricity and natural gas bills for his Nashville estate in 2006.

Now that's walking your talk.

[warpedskydiver 0]

Thats a TVA electric bill, they annouced they are cutting rates last spring, and the cost in that area for power is far below what many of us pay.

[idrankwhat 0]

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I'll put it this way - which is better for the environment: 1) teleconferencing to California from his home-base in Tennessee; or 2) flying via commercial air to California and back, but purchasing carbon offsets; or 3) flying to California via private jet and back, and purchasing more carbon credits?

Hard to say. Which method is likely to do a better job of getting his message out via the national media, a teleconference or a personal visit?

[warpedskydiver 0]

Al Franken's Flying Saucer is powered by ass lube.

Very efficient, and yet scary.

[livendive 8]

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If Gore can get such an effort kicked off even a few years sooner, he will have done far more for the planet than he has harmed it. I hope he succeeds.

I think he would be more likely to succeed if he set a good example.

Bullshit. You're an intelligent guy, so you have to recognize that making an Oscar winning documentary and running a huge PR campaign is more likely to get a message across than simply sitting at home and setting a good example. Ideally, he'd do the former WHILE setting a good example, but the truth is, if he had the most energy efficient house and transportation modes in the world, those who dislike him or disagree with his message would just find another reason to do so. Billvon sets a pretty damned good example. Gore doesn't. Which do you think has been a more effective agent for change by others? I'd wager Gore and "An Inconvenient Truth" have had the greater overall impact.

Blues,
Dave

"I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!"
(drink Mountain Dew)

[rehmwa 2]

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Billvon sets a pretty damned good example. Gore doesn't. Which do you think has been a more effective agent for change by others?

I'd say you are too quick to call "bullshit" in this matter of opinion.

IMO

I'd say that BV (and those like him) who just go and do it and don't make a huge stink about it, will effect more change in the world, and motivate others, than any 'documentary' film ever would.

Even considering that a film will get a lot more views than local examples of energy efficient homes and lifestyles.

Documentaries just preach to the choir and the hypocrits that pretend to fit the message. It's self congratulatory pap. Real lifestyle examples make change and motivate others.

What would get you to buy solar panels? Sitting through a film made by self satisfied hollywood types? Or seeing them on the neighbor's house and going over and learning about them and getting a good referal?

Congrats to Al Gore, now the hollywood crowd will invite him to dinners more often. Yippee - he can fly a charter to visit Rosie O'Donnell for chimichangas

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants