Pullen for the Party

Al Gore's Energy Consumption

Below is a very interesting press release from the Tenessee Center for Policy Research...

Al Gore’s Personal Electricity Consumption Up 10% Despite “Energy-Efficient” Renovations
Energy guzzled by Al Gore’s home in past year could power 232 U.S. homes for a month

NASHVILLE – In the year since Al Gore took steps to make his home more energy-efficient, the former Vice President’s home energy use surged more than 10%, according to the Tennessee Center for Policy Research.

“A man’s commitment to his beliefs is best measured by what he does behind the closed doors of his own home,” said Drew Johnson, President of the Tennessee Center for Policy Research. “Al Gore is a hypocrite and a fraud when it comes to his commitment to the environment, judging by his home energy consumption.”

In the past year, Gore’s home burned through 213,210 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity, enough to power 232 average American households for a month.

In February 2007, An Inconvenient Truth, a film based on a climate change speech developed by Gore, won an Academy Award for best documentary feature. The next day, the Tennessee Center for Policy Research uncovered that Gore’s Nashville home guzzled 20 times more electricity than the average American household.

After the Tennessee Center for Policy Research exposed Gore’s massive home energy use, the former Vice President scurried to make his home more energy-efficient. Despite adding solar panels, installing a geothermal system, replacing existing light bulbs with more efficient models, and overhauling the home’s windows and ductwork, Gore now consumes more electricity than before the “green” overhaul.

Since taking steps to make his home more environmentally-friendly last June, Gore devours an average of 17,768 kWh per month – 1,638 kWh more energy per month than the year before the renovations. By comparison, the average American household consumes 11,040 kWh in an entire year, according to the Energy Information Administration. The cost of Gore’s electric bills over the past year topped $16,533.

In the wake of becoming the most well-known global warming alarmist, Gore’s film won an Oscar, and he won a Grammy and the Nobel Peace Prize. In addition, Gore saw his personal wealth increase by an estimated $100 million thanks largely to speaking fees and investments related to global warming hysteria.

“Actions speak louder than words, and Gore’s actions prove that he views climate change not as a serious problem, but as a money-making opportunity,” Johnson said. “Gore is exploiting the public’s concern about the environment to line his pockets and enhance his profile.”

The Tennessee Center for Policy Research, a Nashville-based free market think tank and watchdog organization, obtained information about Gore’s home energy use through a public records request to the Nashville Electric Service.

The Tennessee Center for Policy Research is an independent, nonprofit and nonpartisan research organization committed to achieving a freer, more prosperous Tennessee through the ideas of liberty. Visit TCPR online at: www.tennesseepolicy.org.

Carbon Crusaders

Today's quote: "We are the President." Hillary Clinton, 1993.

547 days until election day and counting...

THE CARBON CRUSADE

Liberals are always looking for a big new crusade to join. They have been without one for most of the past 27 years, ever since President Reagan came to office.  Reagan's positive, pragmatic approach to solving problems totally disarmed them and began a period of policy reformation in the United States led by the Republican Party. As we moved away from bigger government solutions to problems toward solving problems locally and reducing taxes, Democrats chafed as they watch many of their prize social programs reformed.

Well, they now have found their new cause: Global Warming.  Led by former Vice President AL Gore, who is as famous for his Inconvenient Lie, "During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet." as he is for his Oscar winning drama, "An Inconvenient Truth."  Democrats think they have found the Holy Grail; or the equivalent of the Holy Grail in the secular world, an unproven scientific hypothesis. Twenty years ago, climate research took a sudden sharp turn when it was redefined as the study of the effect of greenhouse gases produced by man. At the time, this was just another hypothesis among hundreds of hypotheses on climate,  most of which have been proven to be wrong.

No matter, like Hollywood, all the Democrats need is a good storyline.  Fiction is melded with convenient, unrelated facts and a script is written by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.  The storyline? They declared that most of the rise in temperature since the mid-20th century is very likely due to man-made greenhouse gases.  This unproven hypothesis has become the conventional wisdom. Of course, if one looks into the short history of the Intergovernmental Panel, one discovers that it is a very self-serving group.  Many of the scientists who espouse the greenhouse gases hypothesis are the recipients of millions of dollars in grants to do more studies to confirm the preferred outcome. Anyone challenging their hypothesis need not apply for a grant.

There can be little doubt where this is heading. Soon, coming to a theater near you will be the wide screen production, Greenhouse Rock, where leading Democrat stars will trade conspicuous carbon consumption for carbon credits, while we are instructed in how to reduce our carbon footprint and where less is more and the sucking sound you hear is nothing less than your wages being siphoned from your pockets like Chinese noodles from a Kyoto Bowl.

This Oscar winning film will be followed by the sequel, Greenhouse Gulag with the appropriate subtitle: From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs, a Karl Marx production.

RANDY