Panties in wad over Al's electric bill - Sounds frugal to me

[Laura PourMeADrink]

Personally, $1200 sounds exceedingly frugal for a 10,000 ft house. Our bill is
that much for 3,500 sf.



http://www.breitbart.com/news/2007/02/27/D8NIGG3O0.html

Group: Gore a Hypocrite Over Power Bill

Feb 27 11:40 PM US/Eastern


By KRISTIN M. HALL
Associated Press Writer
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Al Gore, a leading voice against global warming, is being criticized by a conservative group that claims his Nashville mansion uses too much electricity. A Gore spokeswoman said the former vice president invests in enough renewable energy to make up for the home's power consumption.
On Sunday, Gore's documentary film "An Inconvenient Truth," which chronicled his campaign against global warming, won an Academy Award.



The next day, the Tennessee Center for Policy Research issued a statement saying Gore was not doing enough to reduce his own electricity consumption. The group disputes that global warming is a serious problem.

"We wanted to see if he was living by his own recommendations and walking the walk," said think tank president Drew Johnson.

Utility records show the Gore family paid an average monthly electric bill of about $1,200 last year for its 10,000-square-foot home.

The Gores used about 191,000 kilowatt hours in 2006, according to bills reviewed by The Associated Press. The typical Nashville household uses about 15,600 kilowatt-hours per year.

The group said that Gore used nearly 221,000 kilowatt hours last year and that his average monthly electric bill was $1,359. Johnson said his group got its figures from Nashville Electric Service.

But company spokeswoman Laurie Parker said the utility never got a request from the policy center and never gave it any information.

Gore spokeswoman Kalee Kreider said: "Sometimes when people don't like the message, in this case that global warming is real, it's convenient to attack the messenger."

Kreider said Gore purchases enough energy from renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and methane gas to balance 100 percent of his electricity costs.

Gore, who owns homes in Carthage, Tenn., and in the Washington area, has said he leads a "carbon-neutral lifestyle." To balance out other carbon emissions, the Gores invest money in projects to reduce energy consumption, Kreider said.

___

[ThoughtCriminal]

1. One question

Is it just a residence, or does Gore and his staff operate his business there? If it's a business and media operation combined with a residence, comparing it to a typical houshold is beyond silly.

[NYCGirl]

2. Al and Tipper also have their offices there. NT

[havocmom]

28. Do they have a security detail there too?

That might add something to the meter.

[sojourner]

3. does include his office & Tipper's

[ThoughtCriminal]

6. Partly answers the question

No surprise that they have home offices, but how big is the staff and what do they do there? Is there a studio?

[johnaries]

29. Remember they are also renovating.

Not only do they live and work there, it's an older home and they are improving the insulation, adding solar panels, etc. Those power tools use a lot of electricity, too! But it will save electricity in the long run.

[Ian David]

4. You can still consume, consume, CONSUME like a good Capitalist American and be carbon-neutral...

if you're also SMART and RESPONSIBLE about it.

You don't have to live like The Unabomber to save the Earth.

See?

You can live like a king, with a mansion and private jet, just like Al Gore, but you have to exercise the personal responsibility to offset your consumption with good, environmentally sound practices.

What can be more American, Captialist, and Patriotic than THAT?

[meldroc]

5. IIRC, Al's power company denied sending these swiftboaters copies of his power bills.

Yep, they're making it all up just to smear Gore.

[Proud2BAmurkin]

7. 1300 for 10,000 sf is cheap as hell. Must be getting help from the ENERGY COMPANIES

:rofl:

RePUKES can't even conduct a a cheap smear job competently.

[Johonny]

8. When did Republicans become socialists?

What you mean the wealthy Al Gore uses MORE energy than the average American. Wow I don't believe it. Even in a carbon neutral world I imagine Al Gore still believes in capitalism and certainly one of the privilages of capitalism is the ability to spend more energy if one has the means to pay for it. That Al Gore has the capital to offset more carbon than average and thus can live a little more comfortable life to be called the American dream by Republicans. I guess Carl Marx will be running in 2008 for the republicans with John McCain as VP.

[kestrel91316]

17. You get the gold star today. Actually, you get 5!

[progressivebydesign]

9. He offsets it completely thru Green credits. Sheesh.

Why are those people SO afraid of AL Gore? Afraid he might throw his hat in the ring? Hmmmm?? Corporate scumbags are FINANCING these supposed "think" tanks (and I use that term "think" loosely.) Gee, wonder who is funding those assholes?

Al Gore walks the talk.. he invests to offset his use.

WTF are people going after Al Gore and John Edwards for having large houses, yet nary a word about the mansions that the repubs own. Oh, I forgot, Bush is a beet farmer from Crawford Texas that lives in a shack covered with solar panels.

Fucking assholes.

[mainer]

10. Time to check out EVERY candidate's electric bills

Since this now appears to be as relevant to the campaign as their tax records.

[Name removed]

11. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[sandnsea]

12. It's the same as mine, which is too much

Mine is $150-$200 for 1600 sq ft. I don't have money for solar or wind that would bring my bill down. I am so sick of DUers making excuses for excessive living after the verbal assault some people have taken for shopping at Walmart.

[robcon]

13. Gore's usage was revelatory

I think he's abandoned any leadership position he had in the global-warming fight.

[kestrel91316]

18. If you believe the RW party line, that's true.

BTW, do you have a link to a factual analysis of his actual utility bills, or just RW propaganda?

[kestrel91316]

14. Plus, the Gore house is OLD, as in ANTIQUE, from what I hear.

To get the utility bills that low required a HUGE investment in upgrades.

[jwirr]

15. The point that everyone misses is that Al is using renewable resources

to produce this energy and that costs more. Many of us who use these sources know that because our Electric/Gas companies send us letters asking if we want to use them and then explain how much more it will be.

Their lies are very easy to refute if we just ask people to remember those letters.

[Cabcere]

16. I think you mean "patties in wade"

:P But yeah, I know what you mean. I guess they have to attack the guy for something, though... :shrug:

[Laura PourMeADrink]

20. huh? what does "patties in wade" mean?

[Cabcere]

21. Freeper misspelling of "panties in wad"

There was a thread on here a while back about it...I don't know if I can find it, but I'll try to put a link here if I do. It was quite entertaining. :evilgrin:

Edit: Ah, here you go: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=16969 :popcorn: Enjoy!

[Laura PourMeADrink]

24. thanks - very funny....

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

19. Nancy Pelosi is criticized by the RapePublics for proposing to use one plane

but it doesn't matter how many fleets of planes, limos, and helicopters the Bush Administration uses when they travel from one pointless photo-op to another.

Al Gore gets criticized for an electric bill by them, but Big Dick can apparently use all the electricity he wants to turn his secret bunker complex into a fortress city.

What's next? Rush Limbaugh accusing others of using drugs while he wolfs down cases of Oxycontin? Oh, that's right, he's already done that.

[piedmont]

22. How the heck is your electric bill averaging $1300 on a 3500 sq ft house?

good grief!

[Laura PourMeADrink]

23. Too much or not enough????

[piedmont]

26. Too much!

Do you live in a climate and heat with electric or something? Our house is 1000 sq ft, heated with electricity, and we average $96 per month. Of course, that's in north Georgia.

[Nikia]

25. We thought our combined electric/gas bill was scary

We have a drafty older home that is almost 3,000 square feet, which we moved into during this past summer. We live in Wisconsin. My husband is a night owl and we have two computers. Our latest bill for the month was $450.
We relize that we need to make improvements because we are probably wasting a lot of energy heating the outside while we are shivering when it is allegedly 70 in our house. Unfortunately, it is not going to happen while we are paying for winter heating. We have temporarily hung heavy blankets in front of the windows, which has helped the drafttiness somewhat.
Personally, I understand the Gore's energy consuymption even if their home is much better weatherized than our own. Their house is a business too, not just a home. Having a big off site office would probably result in even higher total energy consumption.

[piedmont]

27. Invest in the insulation and windows-- it will pay for itself pretty quickly nt

[mnhtnbb]

30. Gore is getting the Edwards treatment. Anyone else see a pattern?

If Edwards is concerned about poverty, he shouldn't have a big house. If Gore is concerned about energy usage, he shouldn't be consuming a lot.

Personal political attacks deflect attention from the real issues.