The Tennesee Center for Policy Research — and how can you not love a state think tank with a Spend-o-Meter on its home page? — has the skinny on Al Gore’s electricity usage at his sprawling Nashville home. Despite the much-publicized energy efficiencies that Tipper and Al added to the house, it’s apparently still not as green as Dubya’s Crawford ranch. The Gores electricity consumption is up 10 percent — which is remarkable really, considering how often he’s jetting around the world telling people to embrace energy poverty. Does he leave a hairdryer running?
All told, the Gores use about 20 times the electricity of the average U.S. home. Way to lead by example, Al.
Read the full TCPR article here:
“[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 before the renovations – at a cost of $16,533. By comparison, the average American household consumes 11,040 kWh in an entire year, according to the Energy Information Administration. . . .
“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.”
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