Need Help On Debunking Of Al Gore's "Huge" Energy Bill

[Dinger]

I was talking to a colleage, and she said she heard that Al Gore had this huge electric bill. She's a Dem & didn't believe it anyway, but I told her I saw this debunked somewhere, and that I would get the info and send it to her as soon as I could. So, could anyone please help me?
Thanks, much appreciated:)

[swag]

1. See #4 on DU's "Top Ten Conservative Idiots" from three weeks back

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/top10/281

[NYCGirl]

2. Links:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-roberts/talking-points-on-the-gor_b_42335.html

But just to keep a public record, here are the talking points I shared with him. Feel free to borrow them for your own encounters with media or family and friends:

* It's nice to see the conservative media taking the message of conservation and energy efficiency seriously. Hopefully they will hold their own leaders and readers to the same high standards.
* The Tennessee Tax Dept. does not consider the "Tennessee Center for Policy Research," which roughly no one had heard of before this, a legitimate group. It's run by a long-time right-wing attack hack, and its only registered address is a P.O. box. Why is everyone in the media taking what it says about Gore's electricity use at face value?
* Gore's electricity company has no record of being contacted about his bills.
* The "average" home electricity use quoted by TCPR is a national average that includes apartments and mobile homes. In Gore's climatic zone, the East South Central (Dept. of Energy PDF), the average is much higher, thanks to hot, humid summers and cold winters. Within that zone, Gore's usage is three (not 20) times average, and his per-square-foot usage is squarely average. (More here.)
* The Gores are not an average family. He's an ex-VP with special security arrangements, and has live-in security staff. He and his wife both work on their many business and charitable undertakings out of their house, so they have space for offices and office staff. All that would be tough to cram in an average size house.
* Gore buys the maximum allowable green electricity from the program offered by his utility.
* Most of the electricity in TN comes from hydro and nuclear, and so doesn't generate all that much CO2 anyway.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dave-johnson-and-james-boyce/a-far-too-convenient-mea_b_42171.html

[Mugu]

8. If this story is a lie,

then Gore should just come out and say that. To remain silent when he has been attacked gives the lie credibility.

And it’s not enough to just claim that his accusers are just a bunch of conservatives. They may be conservatives, but that doesn’t mean that what they say isn’t true. Remember that Gore doesn’t have to convince you or me, he has to convince Middle America that he doesn’t just talk the talk. It’s going to be difficult to convince average Americans to sit in cold living rooms wearing layers if he’s heating 100’s of thousands of gallons of water to swim in. CO2 is CO2, so if he’s generating global warming gases to heat a pool it’s going to be that much more difficult to convince people that he really believes that the world is in crisis.

Regards, Mugu

[NYCGirl]

9. You might want to read those links and find out what you're talking about.

Hundreds of thousands of gallons of water to swim in? Is that a Limbaugh kind of thing?

No one is asking anyone to sit in cold living rooms. Change your lightbulbs, put a blanket around your water heater. Carpool when possible. Is that too much for you? Sounds pretty simple to me.

[Mugu]

12. I did follow the links.

That’s where I read about the swimming pool and pool house and nowhere did anybody deny the charges. Most of the counter claims were that this is much ado about nothing because it’s conservatives that are making the charges.

I already do all of those things and much more. And you’re just plain wrong if you believe that only changing to CFLs, adding water heater blankets, and carpooling is enough to save the planet. If that’s all you’re doing then you are part of the problem.

Regards, Mugu

[NYCGirl]

13. Did you also read that his staff works from the house and that both Al and Tipper

run their offices from there? Or are they just spending all the time swimming?

Good. I'm glad you do all those things — if you can do more, please feel free. But no one is asking anyone to sit in the cold.

[Mugu]

15. I’m not sure what working at home has to do with having

a swimming pool. Nobody should have a swimming pool it’s just plain wrong on so many levels i.e. wasting material gas, wasting electricity, wasting fresh water, etc. And yes they are asking for us to set around in the cold that’s why they advise us to turn down the thermostat and wear sweaters.

And why is it all right for rich people to pollute if they just buy some offsets? Is there a climate crisis or not? That’s like ordering a Big Mac and super size fries with a diet coke to offset the calories!

“Green” energy is kind of a misnomer, everything has an ecological cost. Solar cells and windmills don’t just appear from thin air. Somebody has to mine the ore (which is basically raping the planet) and process it. Somebody has to manufacture the machine, package it, transport it, install it, and maintain it. All of those things generate ton’s of CO2, plus no machine lasts forever, and will have to be replaced periodically. So they “may” have less impact on the environment, but nobody can argue that they have no effect. It’s not enough to generate your own solar power you have to use less no matter the source, because every source contributes to climate change.

Regards, Mugu

[Pathwalker]

17. A 17' X 35', 8' deep swimming pool only takes 35,000

gallons of water, so your "hundreds of thousands of gallons" sounds more like a LAKE. :rofl:

[Deep13]

3. It doesn't exist. Ask to see a copy of it.

[whistle]

4. Carbon neutral power produced by wind generators

...no carbon emissions

[Parche]

7. WIND GENERATED

Wind generated by the 'blowhard' Senator Inhofe............:rofl: :bounce:

[AndyA]

5. Point out to them that since Gore opted for Green Energy, it is more expensive,

so naturally his bills will be higher than someone who didn't opt for it.

Gore's dedication to the environment extends past his commitment to spread the word: he reaches deeper into his pocket each month for the comfort of knowing he's having less of a negative impact on the environment.

Then be sure to ask what the Bush Crime Family™ is doing to help the environment. I wonder when was the last time Air Force One spent the entire day on the ground? That baby uses some serious fuel!

[EST]

6. (sigh) Must be something in the water.

Here, from less than thwo hours ago, is all you'll ever need:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x475364

[ourbluenation]

10. Think Progress was all over this a few weeks back - you could check there.

[LSK]

11. Green Power Switch

He pays more to use alternative sources of energy.

http://www.tva.gov/greenpowerswitch/index.htm

[Ilsa]

14. Here's your Snopes link and explanation:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/gorehome.asp

They pay a huge premium for "green" energy, and they have modernized their home for best technology to reduce carbon emissions to leave a neutral carbon footprint.

For some reason, I can't copy the page for you.

[whistle]

16. Last year I changed out my 15 year old central AC/heat pump system

....and installed a 16.7 SEER high efficiency system. I did pay a premium on the initial cost of the system, but I realized immediate operation cost savings for both heating and air conditioning of 40% and more per month. I live in Central Florida. The power company gave me a $200 credit for installing the unit and then followed with an electric rate increase of nearly 20%!

It would be nice to know that the local utility company was also making efforts to become less of a carbon polluter, but as of now they still ship in train loads of polluting high carbon producing coal with no options for offsetting carbon emissions such as solar or tidal hydro-electric production. Instead the power utilities just keep raising prices and increasing profits and paying lobbyists to kill federal energy conservation and air pollution reduction bills.