Scared Monkeys Discussion Forum

LOOK OVER THE DESCRIPTIONS OF THE FOLLOWING TWO HOUSES AND SEE IF YOU CAN TELL WHICH BELONGS TO AN ENVIRONMENTALIST.





HOUSE # 1:



A 20-room mansion (not including 8 bathrooms) heated by natural gas. Add on a pool (and a pool house) and a separate guest house all heated by gas. In ONE MONTH ALONE this mansion consumes more energy than the average American household in an ENTIRE YEAR. The average bill for electricity and natural gas runs over $2,400.00 per month. In natural gas alone (which last time we checked was a fossil fuel), this property consumes more than 20 times the national average for an American home. This house is not in a northern or Midwestern "snow belt," either. It's in the South.







HOUSE # 2:



Designed by an architecture professor at a leading national university, this house incorporates every "green" feature current home construction can provide. The house contains 4,000 square feet (4 bedrooms) and is nestled on an arid high prairie in the American southwest. A central closet in the house holds geothermal heat pumps drawing ground water through pipes sunk 300 feet into the ground. The water (usually 67 degrees F.) heats the house in winter and cools it in summer. The system uses no fossil fuels such as oil or natural gas, and it consumes 25% of the electricity required for a conventional heating/cooling system. Rainwater from the roof is collected and funneled into a 25,000 gallon underground cistern. Wastewater from showers, sinks and toilets goes into underground purifying tanks and then into the cistern. The collected water then irrigates the land surrounding the house. Flowers and shrubs native to the area blend the property into the surrounding rural landscape.







HOUSE # 1 (20 room energy guzzling mansion) is outside of Nashville, Tennessee. It is the abode of that renowned environmentalist (and filmmaker) Al Gore.





HOUSE # 2 (model eco-friendly house) is on a ranch near Crawford, Texas. Also known as "the Texas White House," it is the private residence of the President of the United States, George W. Bush.


This won't be in any media stories

A little more info about the Western White House, Crawford Tx.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prairie_Chapel_Ranch

The above info is from an email as recorded at snopes.com.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/bush/house.asp

Also from snopes is Gore's explanation,

 
A spokesperson for the Gore family responded by noting some mitigating factors, such as the fact that the Gores' Nashville residence isn't an "average" house — it's about four times larger than the average new American home built in 2006, and it essentially functions as both a residence and a business office since both Al and Tipper work out of their home. The Tennessean also noted that the Gores had been paying a $432 per month premium on their monthly electricity bills in order to obtain some of their electricity from "green" sources (i.e., solar or other renewable energy sources). Other factors (such as the climate in the area where the home is located and its size) make the Gore home's energy usage comparable to that of other homes in the same area.

The former vice-president maintained that comparing raw energy-usage figures is misleading and that he leads what he advocates, a "carbon-neutral lifestyle," by purchasing energy from renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and methane gas to balance out the carbon emissions produced in generating the electricity his home uses:
Kalee Kreider, a spokesperson for the Gores, pointed out that both Al and Tipper Gore work out of their home and she argued that "the bottom line is that every family has a different carbon footprint. And what Vice President Gore has asked is for families to calculate that footprint and take steps to reduce and offset it."

The Gore's obviously have big feet

A carbon footprint is a calculation of the CO2 fossil fuel emissions each person is responsible for, either directly because of his or her transportation and energy consumption or indirectly because of the manufacture and eventual breakdown of products he or she uses.

The vice president has done that, Kreider argues, and the family tries to offset that carbon footprint by purchasing their power through the local Green Power Switch program — electricity generated through renewable resources such as solar, wind, and methane gas, which create less waste and pollution. "In addition, they are in the midst of installing solar panels on their home, (Just started installing?) which will enable them to use less power," Kreider added. "They also use compact fluorescent bulbs and other energy efficiency measures and then they purchase offsets for their carbon emissions to bring their carbon footprint down to zero."

And still they use 20 times the energy of a normal household

It doesn't much matter, Carnut, about Gore's houses. Nothing is going to change. And I think Al Gore deserves his houses.

I think Gore deserves to live in the same style that he wishes everyone else to live in.

As much of a jerk as Ralph Nader is, he at least practices what he preaches.

Also Mathatma Ghandi showed that if one wants to make change, it's best to lead by doing, instead of just preaching.

Yes, that UN Panel that Gore endorses so much has a little hospital in Africa operating on a solar panel so that they have to chose between running their tiny refrigeration unit to refrigerate their meds or using their single light bulb.

That's fair?

And an entire tribe of indigenous people in S. America threatened to commit mass suicide because of the actions of Occidental Petroleum while Al Gore Sr was on the board.  

Al Jr's zinc mine pollutes the river and at least once two rivers, quite often.

I don't care what he has or how he lives as long as he does not try to inflict this insanity on others.  He simply has no right and has no science to support what he is advocating, just another of his get rich quick schemes.

the homeowners around mr. gore have nixed his addition of solar panels... they don't feel it was in keeping with their neighborhood... kind of like kerry and walter cronkite who refused to have windmills placed on martha's vineyard.... nantuckett..... because they couldn't have their water view obstructed...

nothing, absolutely nothing makes me want to go out and buy a hummer *which btw, I abhor* like listening to these blowhards!!!


Did anyone see the most premiment scientist has claimed that the the oceans are actually cooling and it's cycilcal not caused by global warming??

Can you say NIMBY?

Yes I've been reading and watching the more 'rational' scientists views on the political/religous war on global warming.

Global Warming is definitely a religous conviction what with all the 'preaching' on the subject by the do gooders/tree huggers.

Carnut,

I'm pretty sure that the cars in your sig line don't get a lot of mileage per gallon. My stepfather had a 57 Chevy and a 58 Chevy both of which got 8 miles per gallon. Eventually he settled on a 65 Mustang, which also got 8 mpg. The old cars used a lot of gas.

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Mrs. Red,

You don't need a Hummer to know which way the wind blows. It must cost over $100 to fill the tank.

I went into shock when my daughter's SO bought her a Ford Thunderbird, a Lincoln Navigator, and a ruby red Hummer all in one week. She hated me saying "How can you in good conscience drive three gas guzzling cars?" She wouldn't tell me how much the Navigator cost. I found out it cost $80K - $100K. I wonder what the Hummer cost.

Yes, Heh, Heh, but each of the cars in my SIG get driven less than 1000 mi a year.

Kinda hard to drive more than one car at a time.

Ain't a whole lot of gallons involved in that.

I'll stack my yearly gasoline usage bill up against any limosine liberals anytime.

Oh and just in case anyone is really interested I actually keep an updated list of expenses and mileage for those vehicles in my SIG.

My 40 Ford

http://carnut.com/iown/40data.html

My 61 Chrysler

http://carnut.com/iown/61data.html

My 67 Dodge Charger


http://carnut.com/iown/67chrgr.html

Again, I'm more than willing to match my 'carbon footprint' up to any Limosine Liberals any day.

Carnut,

Even though you may drive these cars only occasionally, how many miles to the gallon do your vintage cars get?