Jinn

If there was a political conservative who gave a damn about the environment, enough so to speak fervently for defending the planet, who also lived an entirely carbon neutral lifestyle, I could see an actual argument for 'the better of two norms'. But as is, no conservative politician would be caught dead admitting that we affect climate, so their opinions of an advocate and their questions about his personal life are really moot.

EDIT: It's a bit like discussions we've had on TFP about people who have never had or cared for children advising parents on how to be parents.

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Plan9

So... anybody have any pictures of these 9 bathrooms? I'm interested.

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Whatever you can carry.

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Cynthetiq

I'm sorry I don't understand the first paragraph.

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Aladdin Sane

Gore's actions show that
1. he does not believe in anthropomorphic climate change and the dire consequences predicted; and/or
2. he is truly evil; and/or
3. he wants to view the rising ocean from his seafront mansion.

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Wes Mantooth

See I don't see this as a liberal vs conservative issue, and I'm really not sure why it needs to be. Nor is it just about this new 9 bathroom mansion, thats just icing on the cake. This about questioning why a man who is seemingly very passionate about a certain issue yet either can't or wont live by his own words, the ones he's asking us to follow. No matter what the issue or political stance that is hypocritical and there is no reason why, weather you believe in global warming or are a fan of Al Gore, he can't be called out and questioned over his actions.

Al Gore as a very visible and famous member of the global warming movement could be setting an example of how to live an efficient green lifestyle and yet he wont. Why not? I don't think that's an unreasonable question to ask a person who is telling the world that we need to change how we live NOW or face the dire consequences. Does he not really believe what he says? If not, should we? (no I'm not denying global warming but I'm sure a lot of people are starting to look at it that way)

A hypocrite is a hypocrite, it doesn't matter how "pure" or "right" is intentions are, he shouldn't get a pass for saying one thing and doing another.

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Manic_Skafe

I'd hardly consider a report (and I'm using the word report loosely) written by an individual who refers to global warming as a scam as fair enough grounds from which this discussion can properly be had. Anyone else notice that the original article cites and links to a second article (again, loosely) about the carbon footprint of Gore's new digs where the author refers to proponents of living green as "Climatards."

This is dumb and owning a mansion, even your fourth, doesn't automatically disqualify you from living a green lifestyle. Dumb.

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Ourcrazymodern?

As a climatard with a very small footprint, I think we should stop wasting electricity wondering about Gore's relationship with himselves.

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dogzilla

Really? You don't think it's more than a little hypocritical that Al Gore flies around the world telling people like me that we should be buying electric cars, spending more for energy to cover the cost of green energy production, using those new fluorescent lights that actually help pollute the environment and then he buys a 2nd or 3rd mansion which has energy consumption that far exceeds what I use? I looked at the pictures of his new mansion and there's not a solar cell or a windmill in any of those pictures.

And for the record, this has nothing to do with Al's association with Bill Clinton. Al has managed to provide more than enough ammunition to blow both his feet off and then some just with his being a spokesman for global warming.

It also has nothing to do with people like Jimmy Swaggart, 'homopbobe' Congressmen that might be doing what those they represent want or Koch industries, all of whom I pay no attention to.

What it has to do with is people like Al that tell me that I need to reduce energy usage and be prepared to pay more for what energy that I do you and then turn around and squander energy. In other words, hypocrites,.

MSD

Can anyone who's throwing a shit fit about what a hypocrite Gore is for buying a second house show me the carbon footprint? He bought it, big fucking deal. For all we know he already has appointments to put wind turbines in the back yard, cover the roof in solar panels, cover the rest with renewable energy purchased from local utilities, and keep everything shut off when he's not there. You don't have the whole story, maybe you should try to get it before you ramble about it.
What portion of t0hat electric bill was from coal/oil generation and what was from renewable sources? What about the fact that after that became "news," he installed solar panels, a geothermal heat exchanger for water and heating/cooling, and doesn't have a single incandescent bulb installed in the house? What about the fact that he and his wife not only live there, but run their business out of their home and have racks of servers and associated cooling equipment in the basement? What about the cut to emissions since they don't commute to work? Who says they aren't going to make these improvements to the new home?

Cynthetiq

Sure, he's made considerable improvements to the other home, I guess he'll do the same here.

Gore gets green kudos for home renovation - Environment- msnbc.com
I live in just under 800sq ft with my wife and 2 cats.

I don't see how ANYONE can legitimately need such large square footage.

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dogzilla

So he fixed the problem after he got caught. That sounds more like trying to cover up his problem than doing it right in the first place
What about his flying around in a private jet? What about the additional heat generated by his high electrical usage. That heat doesn't just disappear. Why does the fact that he has extraordinarily high energy usage get excused by using 'green' energy? If I managed to install solar panels capable of generating 50KW of energy and used it to shine searchlights into the sky day and night, that's environmentally acceptable since I'm not burning carbon to do that? How much of that green energy is accounted for by the cap and trade and carbon credits charades?

Wes Mantooth

I don't know, maybe its just me but the major renovations to his house here in Tennessee didn't actually start until he got called out by the media, I hardly find that commendable. If nobody had noticed would he have done anything at all? He's been talking about global warming for decades, but only does something about his home 3 or 4 years ago after his integrity is called into question?

And lets not forget not only does Al own a house in California (need those fountains and heated pool Mr Gore?) he also owns one here in Nashville, one in Carthage, TN (family farm and home to the zinc mine) and another in Arlington VA, and I beleive a condo at one point..all for him and Tipper...four homes. Hardly a shining example of the necessary consumption he ask out of all of us, but I'm sure he's working hard on making them all green before the media discovers anything.

But that's just the surface of the ice burg for old Al. Couple the houses with his zinc mine which was responsible for polluting the Canary Fork River (sited as late as 2000 by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation for violations, closed in 2003 again after winding up in the media). Of course right along side this zinc mine was the "Gore Dump" which Al himself denied existing until the local news shot footage showing dripping oil filters, aerosol cans, unrecycled aluminum and old tires (also leaking into the Canary Fork)...but we'll forgive that one since it was in the early 90's. Gore is now allowing Dow Chemical (yeah really) to sponsor Life Earth in an attempt to paint itself as a green company, pissing off environmentalists everywhere. He's notorious for flying around in a private jet and traveling in a limo (hardly necessary or easy on the environment), he "forgot" to turn off the floodlights around his Nashville home during Earth Hour last year, wont stop eating meat despite calling out the farm and meat industry for their impact on the environment...

...This is just the stuff off the top of my head, if I got my facts wrong I'll stand corrected. Al's done a lot to turn people on to the problems we face today with global warming but if the above isn't glaring hypocrisy I don't know what is. He could own a modest, yet comfortable home as a model of green efficiency...he doesn't need three mansions and a heavily polluted farm. He could be setting an example by making appearances via satellite instead of jetting around the world for every appearance but chooses not to. He seems to have no problem consuming all the energy and resources he needs to live his life the way he wants to yet asks us to do the exact opposite. Dire situations call for drastic measures, or at least according to Al Gore and drastic measures take effort, lots of it. Not leaving a carbon footprint the size of Cleveland, off setting it with carbon credits (from a company he chairs none the less), only making changes when called out by the media and then going right back to life as normal. That's not setting an example, that's not leadership, that's not the actions of a man who believes we are an eyelash away from an environmental catastrophe.

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ASU2003

That is my only problem with it. If it had geo-thermal cooling, solar water heating, solar panels, wind power generators, and some Bloom energy fuel cells, and a few electric cars, well, I could care less about how big of a house he has.

And, I thought his electric bill was that much at his TN house because he bought renewable energy to power it....

---------- Post added at 08:18 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:10 AM ----------

Actually the heat does disapate at night time, at least it is supposed to. If you have ever been in the desert, it gets very hot during the day, but since there isn't much H20 and CO2, at night it radiates back into space. But, in Phoenix, with all the concrete, CO2 brown cloud, and people flooding their lawns to water them, it can still be extremely hot in the middle of the night.

Lindy

While searching for something else, I ran across this quotation from two time Democratic Presidential candidate Adlai E. Stevenson (lost in 1952 and 1956 to Eisenhower).

"A hypocrite is the kind of politician who would cut down a redwood tree, then mount the stump and make a speech for conservation."
Adlai E. Stevenson

It just seemed apropos this thread.

Lindy

filtherton

It bears mention that everyone is a hypocrite, and that hypocrisy, being a common denominator amongst us all, isn't all that interesting.

I'd rather hear what Gore tells himself to justify his excesses.