Gore Hypocricy2

The Goracle team has now responded to perfectly legitimate criticism of his obscene energy usage, given his public position:

The Gores' home "carbon neutral," Kreider said, meaning that the overall household use of carbon-based energy, like coal-fired power plants and natural gas, is offset either by more fuel-efficient technology or through programs aimed at reducing greenhouse gas-producing energy.

The report describes the Gores' home as a mansion, but Kreider refers to it as a "residence." She did not immediately know how many rooms the residence had, but described the second building on the property as a swimming pool house, adjacent to an outdoor pool.

So he has energy efficient appliances and pays for carbon credits. Guilt assuaged!

As Hinderaker asks, what about the rest of his houses, air travel, and massive motorcades?

With all of this negative attention, at least one person is worried about an Al Gore-global warming "backlash:"

...now that Hollywood has so completely embraced the former vice president, one wonders if this issue will be associated only with liberal causes.

That Katie Couric. Always with the finger on the pulse.

In other warming news: Via Wizbang, Common Dreams describes an optimal ecological house:

The 4,000-square-foot house is a model of environmental rectitude.

Geothermal heat pumps located in a central closet circulate water through pipes buried 300 feet deep in the ground where the temperature is a constant 67 degrees; the water heats the house in the winter and cools it in the summer. Systems such as the one in this "eco-friendly" dwelling use about 25% of the electricity that traditional heating and cooling systems utilize.

A 25,000-gallon underground cistern collects rainwater gathered from roof runs; wastewater from sinks, toilets and showers goes into underground purifying tanks and is also funneled into the cistern. The water from the cistern is used to irrigate the landscaping surrounding the four-bedroom home. Plants and flowers native to the high prairie area blend the structure into the surrounding ecosystem.

What's amazing is that Bush, who is obviously leading by example, is constantly referred to as a great destroyer of the environment, while Al Gore is considered the global warming Messiah while he lives an ecologically extravagant lifestyle. The only difference being that Gore regularily works himself into a lather preaching global warming armegeddon...and bashes Bush for not caring about the polar bears.

The contrast between Bush and Gore couldn't be more stark. One is actually doing something. The other is preaching that everyone else needs to do something. Gore's hypocricy only becomes more prounounced by comparison.

Not one to let a good deed go unpunished though, Common Dreams author Rob Sullivan later writes this about Bush's ranch:

Heymann also termed the house "stunningly small." Really? Would it be stunningly small for a single mother in South Central Los Angeles? How stunningly small would it be for an immigrant Latino family in San Antonio Maybe in the rarified heights where second homes are the norm, 4,000 square feet is small and on a stunning scale as well, but in Main Street America that much elbow room is pretty big for the first and only home.

Hey pal, tell it to Gore.