Matt Drudge v. Al Gore

The Drudge Report is known mostly as a wildly popular online news outlet, but when the site's creator and editor, Matt Drudge, wants to insert his editorial voice into the national debate, he certainly can, and does. Drudge lashed out at Al Gore this Monday after Gore's movie, "An Inconvenient Truth," took the Oscar for Best Documentary.

Citing a press release by the Tennessee Center for Policy Research, Drudge reports that Gore's Tennessee household uses twenty times as much energy as the average person's home, and that the former vice president's energy consumption has increased since the release of his anti-global warming film. "The average household in America consumes 10,656 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year, according to the Department of Energy," the report says. "In 2006, Gore devoured nearly 221,000 kWh -- more than 20 times the national average."

Gore shot back at Drudge Monday through an interview with the liberal Web site ThinkProgress:

Responding to Drudge's attack, Vice President Gore's office told ThinkProgress:

1) Gore's family has taken numerous steps to reduce the carbon footprint of their private residence, including signing up for 100 percent green power through Green Power Switch, installing solar panels, and using compact fluorescent bulbs and other energy saving technology.

2) Gore has had a consistent position of purchasing carbon offsets to offset the family's carbon footprint -- a concept the right-wing fails to understand. Gore's office explains:

What Mr. Gore has asked is that every family calculate their carbon footprint and try to reduce it as much as possible. Once they have done so, he then advocates that they purchase offsets, as the Gore's do, to bring their footprint down to zero.

The spat has been picked up by news and opinion media outlets across the nation, and it is bouncing its way through the blogosphere. (Scroll down to the "Update" section of this Huffington Post entry for a handy summary of the comments.)

In the eyes of those who already approve of Gore's global warming message, the charges don't seem to diminish the former vice president's stature. On the Huffington Post, for example, a blogger proclaims, "Al Gore is a hero." Conservatives, however, are using the charges to reinforce Gore's image from the 2000 election as a hypocrite and opportunist. Ed Morrissey at Captain's Quarters writes, "Gore wants the rest of us to downsize and conserve rather than just treat energy like any other market -- and Gore is obviously not doing that for himself."

And then there's this comparison Rush Limbaugh made between Gore and President Bush on his radio program yesterday: "Compare Gore's mansion and Bush's modest 4,000 square foot little house on a ranch in Crawford. Who is it that is actually walking the walk here when it comes to conserving energy? It is not Al Gore."

By Rob Anderson |  February 28, 2007; 11:29 AM ET
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The Republicans are absolutely scared to death of an Al Gore run for President. They continue to try to trash him at every move. Gore won the first Presidential run and he would win again. That is why they attack him at every move.

Posted by: Donna | February 28, 2007 12:22 PM

Al Gore is a hypocrite... And if you look up the word 'Hypocrite' in the dictionary it should say - See DemocRAT. Because most of them are. Say one thing, do another has been the DumocRAT motto since the Civil War.

Posted by: Iain | February 28, 2007 12:24 PM

The attempts to smear Gore are off-base, misleading and typical of the right wing smear machine. Why bother putting things in context or telling the truth? Credibility hasn't been a concern of the right wing since W rolled into town. The Drudge Report and Rush Limbaugh are pathetic.

Posted by: dan | February 28, 2007 12:25 PM

One of the more distressing developments in recent times is the ability of groups to provide a piece of information, present it without any context, and use it to completely misrepresent the situation. I believe this is a perfect example. Assuming that the 221MWh the Gore's used is correct (and I'm not thinking it is) there would have to be more to it than they are just running the A/C all day long with the windows open. I mean really. That much energy would mean an average current of 230 Amps, not something that you can actually do by running ALL of your appliances full out 100% of the time.

So, either there is some significant piece of the picture that was left out, OR it is wrong.

Either way, I submit that in the effort to do what exactly I don't know (are these the Pro-Global warming types or are they just unable to exorcise a personal animus against Gore?) this group has chosen to ignore the simple fact that while Gore could be taken to task for using 50% more power than average, or even 100% or so, 22 times just isn't reasonable to blame on being a glutton.

Posted by: Joel | February 28, 2007 12:25 PM

"Gore has had a consistent position of purchasing carbon offsets to offset the family's carbon footprint "
Carbon offsets are the biggest scam since snake-oil! What they mean to say is that they aren't about to cut back on guzzling electricity and pumping out CO2 into the environment. They are buying $$$ their way out of not having to do a damn thing!

GWB on the other hand walks the talk with is environmentally friendly awesome home.


Posted by: Mike C | February 28, 2007 12:26 PM

"Citing a press release by the Tennessee Center for Policy Research . . ."

A press-release from a phony Think Tank (as reported today by the Post's own Howard Kurtz)that serves as 'news' for Right Wing nut-jobs and journalists like Rob Anderson, worthy of discussion on its own merits. I wonder if the journalism school Mr. Anderson received his degree from is anymore legitimate than the one Jeff Gannon 'earned', because at my alma mater, San Diego State, that would not be called 'news'.

So let me get this straight: The Washington Post was that really wonderful organization that used solid investigative journalism by two intrepid reporters to bring presidential to the light of day?

Wow. What a long way you have fallen.

Posted by: Chad Boyer | February 28, 2007 12:27 PM

"Say one thing, do another has been the DumocRAT motto since the Civil War."

This comment is too stupid for words.

Did you get this lame "DumocRat" insult from 3rd grade where you have been held back sine you got there?


Posted by: dan | February 28, 2007 12:27 PM

Since when is a 4000 sq. ft. house a "modest"?

Ay yi yi

Posted by: Richard Pipes | February 28, 2007 12:27 PM

Ha! The "...right-wing fails to understand"?

First, create a fake commodity and sell it to stupid
people so that they can be guilt-free to pollute as
much as they want to, while telling poor people to
reduce their energy usage.

We understand it perfectly. Not even Al Gore believes this nonsense.

Posted by: Gary | February 28, 2007 12:28 PM

Algore is tainted goods for the Democrats. He does not help their cause any. I'm betting Republicans would love Gore to get the nod for the Democrats. It would be easy pickings to say the least. Gore is a non-factor anymore since his pseudo-scientific results are met with opposition from so many knowledgeable scientists.

Posted by: Chris | February 28, 2007 12:28 PM

Man, I wish I had me one of those "modest" little 4000 square foot houses.

How does Bush manage to live in a shack so small on a huge ranch with many outbuildings.

Maybe it is a question of priorities - he could have had a bigger house but chose to spend money on his $10,000 mountain bike?

Jeez - Limbaugh needs to go back on the drugs. He made much more sense then.

Posted by: DBJ | February 28, 2007 12:28 PM

Citing a press release from the Tennessee Center for Policy Research is now characterized as "lashing out"? Jesus, sit down and take a few deep breaths, will you? There's going to be plenty of infighting over the next two freaking years, you don't have to try to incite any more.

Posted by: KVollero | February 28, 2007 12:29 PM

Drudge Sludge is useless. Al Gore would rip John McCain and any other Repub in '08 to shreds.
What the hell does Gore's conspicuous consumption have to do with man-made global warming?
Has everyone forgotten that there is already UNDENIABLE VERIFICATION of man's effect on nature? Remember fluorocarbons, you idiot right-wing dolts? Remember the ozone hole over the poles? Remember the ozone hole shrinking once aerosal sprays were banned?
I'm sick of obfuscation and lies. I'm sick of smoke-spewers like Drudge. And, next election, we the people will be getting rid of more useless, far-right anti-science dolts, including the worst administration ever.
Be very afraid, Repubs, if Gore decides to run, or gets drafted.

Posted by: Steve Novak | February 28, 2007 12:29 PM

Wait a minute, I thought that according to Drudge, Limbaugh, et al, global warming itself was a scam and didn't exist! So why would they care how much energy Gore uses?

Posted by: Woochifer | February 28, 2007 12:34 PM

I admire the Republican position on global warming, energy usage and sustainable growth: consume more oil, drive more SUVs, pollute more air, tear down more forests--and for God's sake, make sure some cronies make money on it. I sure wish I had a piece of that sub-contractor action in Iraq.


History is looking at a corrupt, interest-infested GOP and it doesn't look good. I give up on finding patriots, where are the REAL conservatives?

PS: it comes off petty and snarky to deny Al yet ONE MORE THING he won fair and square. You people need to grow up.

Posted by: tony | February 28, 2007 12:37 PM

If I were Algore, I'd apologize to ALL Americans for giving such a poor representation of environmentalism.

Posted by: kivrin | February 28, 2007 12:38 PM

"Algore is tainted goods for the Democrats. He does not help their cause any. I'm betting Republicans would love Gore to get the nod for the Democrats."

Um, Al Gore WON the last time he ran against President Howdy Doody. Just because the far right stole the election in Florida does not make Al un-electable - in fact, the opposite.
People know he should've been president. People are TICKED because they know Gore wouldn't have started an illegal war to kill a leader, and hundreds of thousands of civilians, so that corporate criminals like Cheney could let Halliburton run amok, stealing taxpayer money, giving soldiers crappy equipment, lying about oil paying for the war.
Halliburton should receive the corporate death penalty.
Cheney should be impeached - HE'S the head of the snake, not Cowboy Doofus - and after removal from office, tried for treason for forcing the CIA to do his lying for him, and starting a war that, after 3 and a half years, is lost, and sees Bush family buddy Osama bin Laden still free and laughing at us.

Posted by: Steve Novak | February 28, 2007 12:38 PM

Typical of the conservative mindset to nitpick at one of the torch bearers of this issue, instead of earning an iota of self-respect by acknowledging that they were DEAD WRONG on the urgency and consequences of Global Warming.

Instead of being illustrated by an elephant, Republicans should to be depicted by the ostrich. They know nothing other than sticking their tiny heads in the sand when the facts don't fit their rigid precepts.

Posted by: D. Navarrete | February 28, 2007 12:38 PM

When did the wingnuts start hating capitalism?

If Gore pays big bucks for his electricity, that money goes to the local power company. If he pays the carbon offsets, that's more money to that company. What do you wingnuts have against someone who pays for what they consume in a free society?

It's hilarious how they can get all up in arms about something and yet turn a blind eye to common sense and their own supposed "convictions."

Posted by: Mr. Peabody | February 28, 2007 12:39 PM

>>>Citing a press release from the Tennessee Center for Policy Research is now characterized as "lashing out"?

Would it be "lashing out" to point out that they are bought and paid for by the Republican Party in the state of Tennessee? Or would that just be "unfair" since it punctures the meme that this was done in a "fair and balanced" way to steal Gore's thunder at Oscar time?

Posted by: Mr. Peabody | February 28, 2007 12:42 PM

Buying carbon offsets is the modern day equivalent of buying indulgences. One doesn't really need to change habits if one is rich enough to buy those "carbon indulgences". For secularlists, those global warming believers sure sound like a religion.

Posted by: Todd G | February 28, 2007 12:43 PM

These Carbon footprint credits are like 21st Century Indulgences. Shame on you Al Gore. Glad you got an Oscar for your acting.

Posted by: Rudolf Navario | February 28, 2007 12:45 PM

Next time you think to quote Matt Drudge as a source of information, please don't. Thank you.

You guys just never learn, do you?

Posted by: DG | February 28, 2007 12:46 PM

Question: What does this have to do with global warming? (Answer: it tries to change the subject.)


What Gore did was to publicize the importance of global warming. Whether he personally implements private conservation measures or not, doesn't diminish the challenge of global warming one iota. That he won an Oscar simply increases the attention people will pay to global warming.


There are a bunch of partisan nasties out there (who might be called 'swiftboaters', for whom lying is a justifiable means to an end) that either (a) don't believe in global warming, (b) don't want Al Gore to get any publicity, or (c) both. The way this discussion has been framed simply sucks us in to play their sick (and very predictable) game.

Posted by: Terry Steichen | February 28, 2007 12:48 PM

Where does the Tennessee Center for Policy Research get its money? I tried to find out and could only find links to it from a lot of ardent arch-conservative web sites.

That kind of information in addition to the context supplied by Joel's post would place this charge in some context.

Posted by: Doris | February 28, 2007 12:49 PM

Al Gore is the best thing to happen to this country. He invented the Internet, was the role model for "Love Story", won the 2000 election and proved environmentalism can be possible by living in a mansion. Either you love him or hate him for being such a disingenuous politician. Your choice.

Posted by: Mr Peabrain | February 28, 2007 12:50 PM

"Um, Al Gore WON the last time he ran against President Howdy Doody. Just because the far right stole the election in Florida does not make Al un-electable - in fact, the opposite."

Get the tinfoil hats out... The Whack-a-Doo Liberals are breathing fire.

Posted by: Iain | February 28, 2007 12:50 PM

If someone chooses one hundred percent green power or uses one hundred percent solar and wind, it's none of your business how much power they use. Republicans are so nosy poking into Americans personal lives.

Posted by: Jeb's Boehner | February 28, 2007 12:51 PM

Keep the blame where it belongs. Polluters love Bush because he doesn't make them pay to clean up their own messes (might hurt the economy). Bush, in his first 3 months in office violated his campaign promise to strictly regulate CO2...he tried to rool back Clinton/Gore EPA standards on arsenic in our water...that's just the beginning. He allowed polluters to have their way in texas (where the bunnies were turning GREEN from chemicals in the air/land/water...he's doing his best to ruin the other 49 states. Thank God for Al Gore. I don't care which democrat is elected, as long as they appoint Al Gore head of the EPA. He's done the planet a great service exposing the Inconvenient Truths Bush likes to deny.

Posted by: sgoewey | February 28, 2007 12:52 PM

"He invented the Internet, was the role model for "Love Story", won the 2000 election and proved environmentalism can be possible by living in a mansion."

LOL... That's the funniest thing. Al Gore is full of it and the liberals and DumocRATs continue eat it up like they always do... Just ask Bill and Hillary. Even their liberal Hollywood supporters like David Geffin know that these people are full of ****! So why do they keep voting for them? Fools!

Posted by: Iain | February 28, 2007 12:54 PM

The Tennessee Two by Four. Watta guy. He's not running for president until he loses about 50 pounds. That poor Armani suit was absolutely screaming for relief.

Posted by: Mr Peabrain | February 28, 2007 12:56 PM

How do we know that Al Gore isn't practicing conservation? Are we saying that, per square foot, Gore uses more energy, or just that his house/mansion/estate uses more energy?

Posted by: Defenestrator | February 28, 2007 12:56 PM

Now that Drudge is widely seen as a neo-con republican hack, and republicans as hacks and thieves in general, I think its just dandy that all he can do is whine like the non-event he has always been.

Welcome to the dist-bin of yellow-journalism political commentary!

Posted by: Reality, USA | February 28, 2007 12:58 PM

Drudge is "wildly popular" in that he "rules the world" of Beltway Teabaggers like Mark Halperin, and provides endless fodder for whatever attack points the RNC is blastfaxing that day.

Period.

Posted by: lambert strether | February 28, 2007 12:59 PM

The ComPost didn't want to explain what those "Carbon Offsets" were. It sounds good until you learn the details.

What it means, according to a somewhat more detailed article published here yesterday (which hadn't yet edited out the inconvenient details) is that Gore has bought a lot of forest land, and the photosynthesis from his own personal trees makes up for the huge heating and air conditioning bills.

So, in order to "offset" their carbon use it means that everybody should go out and buy a few square miles of forest. Simple. If you have the millions in spare change like Gore does.

The leftist media also doesn't explain that gore inherited a huge bundle of stock in Occidental Petroleum, from his daddy, who worked for Armand Hammer and Uncle Joe Stalin. So he has plenty of money to buy land with. No problem.

Posted by: Cicero | February 28, 2007 01:00 PM

On the broad issue of Global Warming/Climate Change, it is an undisputed fact that since its existence, at different times the earth has been much warmer and much colder than it is today and 99 percent of those climate changes predated human activity by tens of millions of years. Indeed, at various times there were no polar ice caps and reptiles inhabited what is now the Artic and the average temperature of the earth was considerably warmer than the current and predicted increase that Mr. Gore is fretting about.

At other times ice covered much of what is now the United States and southern Europe. Only three decades ago, many of the same environmental "experts" warning us of the global warming disaster hypothesized at length in a Newsweek magazine cover story that we were facing a new ice age. Imagine, in only thirty years those reputable "climate experts" changed their opinions 180 degrees!

If humans are significantly adding to global warming, how could such vast swings in global temperature have happened millions of years ago - particularly global warmth that was much greater than any predicted by today's current global warming "experts" - since humans did not drive vehicles and operate power plants/emit CO2 back then? And no one has explained why/how Mars is getting hotter since it is not inhabited by CO2 emitting humans. Many non-politicized scientists think that the sun is causing Mars to get hotter and many of those same scientists are positing the theory that the same sun is causing the earth to get hotter.
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of reputable climate experts who do not agree with the global warming crowd assessment. Indeed, one might want to check out the June 26 column Wall Street Journal by Richard S. Lindzen entitled "There is no 'consensus' on Global Warming" - Lindzen is the Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Meteorology, Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences at MIT.

Posted by: jdri | February 28, 2007 01:01 PM

I like Al Gore, but I agree with the writers who want a much more active government role in environmental protection than is provided by carbon offsets. I'm happy to see Rush Limbaugh is on that side! I hope Rush comes out for very strong regulation of the coal and oil industries, soon, and especially pours scorn on the Bush administratins use of similar carbon offset accounting to let coal powered electic plants get away with increased carbon emissions. Way to go you guys! I think a few of the writers above - like Mike C - might want to take a look at Earth First as an organization that takes their environmental radicalism seriously.

Posted by: roger | February 28, 2007 01:01 PM

"Since when is a 4000 sq. ft. house a "modest"?"

Well, conveniently for Mr. Gore, Mr. Anderson pulled his punches.

Bush's eco-friendly home is heated and cooled by a system whereby drilling pipes beneath the house to where the earth is a constant 67 degrees and circulating water keeps the house at nearly constant comfortable temperature. This uses about 25% of the energy used to heat and cool a house of that size.

Bush also uses a system of water capture from roof areas, dish water and yes, toilets which is then purified and then stored in cisterns to irrigate the natural plantings on his property.

The story is on the back pages (of course) of the Chicago Tribune, August 29, 2001.

Posted by: Mr. Beckman | February 28, 2007 01:01 PM

Al Gore leaves a negative carbon footprint because he buys carbon credits, invests in green technology and PAYS MORE for green electricity.

By the way, this Tennessee group JUST HAPPENS NOT TO BELIEVE IN GLOBAL WARMING. Slight agenda don't you think?

Posted by: Celeste | February 28, 2007 01:02 PM

Joel Said: "One of the more distressing developments in recent times is the ability of groups to provide a piece of information, present it without any context, and use it to completely misrepresent the situation. I believe this is a perfect example. Assuming that the 221MWh the Gore's used is correct (and I'm not thinking it is) there would have to be more to it than they are just running the A/C all day long with the windows open. I mean really. That much energy would mean an average current of 230 Amps, not something that you can actually do by running ALL of your appliances full out 100% of the time."

Maybe he is growing marijuana in his basement for his new lefty allies?

Posted by: Bob | February 28, 2007 01:03 PM

One need only read the narrow-minded comments of the Bush supporters to understand why this country is where is it. They never let the facts interfere with their arguments. That being said, last time I checked George Bush lived in a mansion on Pennsylvania Avenue that is much, much larger than 4000 square feet. Check it out. Let's compare apples to apples.

Posted by: SG | February 28, 2007 01:04 PM

Matt Drudge and bews site in the same sentence! ha

Posted by: | February 28, 2007 01:04 PM

Anyone who goes to Drudge's site online will find their Registry loaded with spyware and cookies; that's what goes on behind the curtain with Drudge.

The rest of it is his opinion. Who cares? As long as he doesn't back Ralph Nadir.

Posted by: sfgla | February 28, 2007 01:07 PM

Isn't everyone entertained by my lies and my clever play on words?

Love me! Love me! Worship me!

Together we will run this comment thread into the ground and keep people from discussing the matter at hand, which is, namely, a hit piece sponsored by Matt Drudge, designed to taint Al Gore's movie and the Oscar that it won.

Love me!

Posted by: Mr. Peabrain | February 28, 2007 01:14 PM

The Tennessee Center for Policy Research is a conservative think tank sponsored by Republicans. Does this make a difference? Judge for yourselves

Posted by: Isaac | February 28, 2007 01:14 PM

Look at what is really going on here. Imagine you were the right wing Republican party and you geared up to beat a Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama in the election. At the last minute, a new candidate entered the race who had impecable experience and education. In addition, the only candidate to have both an Oscar and a Nobel Peace prize (could happen). Finally, it was a candidate greatly admired around the world and one who could immediately restore of the luster lost during W's administration. Wouldn't you want to try to "swift boat" him early to discourage his entering the race. Personally, my dream is Gore for president and Obama for vice president. The republicans wouldn't see the executive branch for two decades.

Posted by: Tom Hilliard | February 28, 2007 01:14 PM

Steve Novak: "Um, Al Gore WON the last time he ran against President Howdy Doody. Just because the far right stole the election in Florida does not make Al un-electable - in fact, the opposite."

Inane: "Get the tinfoil hats out... The Whack-a-Doo Liberals are breathing fire."

Let's see...exit polls in 2000 showed Gore won Florida; upon hearing the news, Dade County and Jeb Bush kept that county's results until late in the evening...the Bushies, especially skag Katherine Harris, handled every single overseas ballot from soldiers and "only filled in missing parts of ballots so our Armed Forces would not be disqualified" - gee, wonder what else they filled in?
Harris and Jeb disqualified thousands of, mostly, black voters on the basis of lies concerning "felony" records who, upon informing the Florida election officials of their error, were STILL kept off the ballot...in 2000...in 2002...in 2004.
Dade County, loaded with mostly Jews, gave 6,000 votes to BUCHANAN, the idiot Holocaust denier? Sure thing.
Bush "won" by 700 votes. You do the math, Einstein.
By the way...your grade school taunts about liberals just ticks America off more everyday. Perhaps you were in a coma when last November's election was held? The fear and terror imposed on America by the Bushies will be gone in less than two years.
Keep up the good work, and thanks for the help. You can tell the far-right is disappearing faster than taxpayer money in Iraq. I love how all you "patriotic" right-wingers could care less about getting ripped off, could care less about Cheney's criminal conduct, and could care less about our Bill of Rights being turned off by President Fascist and his minions.
The people have had it with you, Iain.
Unabashed Liberal/Progressive Wingnut Whack-A-Doo


Posted by: Steve Novak | February 28, 2007 01:16 PM

Tom Hilliard!

Stop! You are shining a light of reason where only shadows and obfuscation should be found!

Us wingnuts (and why ARE we hanging around the Washington Post, of all places?!?) just want you to have a giggle at Al Bore's expense, because what we fear most of all is a President who holds the Republican Party accountable for its criminal activities and its incomptence....

Love me! Pay attention to me! I'm dang funny! Yuk!

Posted by: Mr. Peabrain | February 28, 2007 01:18 PM

I found the 2005 Form 990 filing made by the Tennessee Center for Policy Research. It received $104K in donations, but the filing didn't list the donors. I suspect one or two right wingnuts or another conservative organization put up most of the money.

The organization paid out half of what it took in for salaries and payroll taxes. Almost $5000 was spent on meals, which I would think would buy some pretty decent grub in Nashville, TN. I don't know how much electricity was used, but they sure didn't skimp on calories.

Posted by: Buddy K | February 28, 2007 01:21 PM

The point isn't that Republicans want to nose around in Al Gore's business. The point is he runs around the world telling others how they ought to sacrifice, while doing just the opposite in his personal life.

"Carbon Credits" are a sham. It's like Al Gore saying he's going on diet, and then claiming success because he bought someone else's Slim-Fast supply, and claiming their weight-loss as his own. He is an energy glutton, and he's entitled to be. He should just shut up about the rest of those who do the same.

Posted by: Mark | February 28, 2007 01:21 PM

Steve Novak!

Gasp! That one hit me in the throat and I nearly passed out!

Al Bore wears tight suits! Gaaak!

Laugh! Enjoy yourselves! Buy the lies and get the disinformation for free!

Posted by: Mr. Peabrain | February 28, 2007 01:21 PM

>>>"Carbon Credits" are a sham.

No, they help preserve the environment and they compensate for energy consumed in a way that benefits the planet.

They are also "optional" and "more expensive" and the fact that someone actually buys them indicates that they are NOT a hypocrite.

Posted by: Mr. Peabody | February 28, 2007 01:23 PM

This Al Gore is a genius.

There could be a number of markets for this. I may start a company where people can send me money to reduce their Dumbsh!t Footprint. People could pay me to offset their own staggering incompetence, be it on the job, in their personal lives, or in executing the duties public office.

Think of the possibilities.

Posted by: Mr Peabrain | February 28, 2007 01:24 PM

The number is just plain ridiculous: 221MWh? That's the consumption of a small industrial plant. it's either fake or it includes something else than Gore's personnal residence.

Posted by: Prp | February 28, 2007 01:24 PM

Being a Democrat means there need be no connection between your words and your deeds.

Posted by: Jack Wilson | February 28, 2007 01:25 PM

Poor wingnut Republicans.

How dismal is your demise?

Posted by: Mr. Peabody | February 28, 2007 01:26 PM

Gore is a hypocrite, plain and simple. You can rationalise it any way you want, such as 'buying' abosolution as back in the days of another nascent religion, but that doesn't change the obvious phoniness. The report in question only listed one of at least THREE homes owned by the psuedo environmentalist king--- he is among the elitist priests of global warming who lecture while consuming with the best of us ( not there is anything wrong with that). this issue only makes the cult of global warming more apparent-- don't be assimilated!

Posted by: bewildered | February 28, 2007 01:27 PM

Regardless of what people want to think of the "think tank" that reported Gore's household usage, Gore's office never denied the accuracy of the number. And for others who want to believe that usage "per square foot" should be the measure of conservation, then that would make Americans entitled to their enormous usage because we have much bigger homes on average than any other population. So stop whining about how much of the world's energy we use.

And for those who believe the argument is about capitalism or other GOP priorities, you know you are trying to change the subject. The point here is simply another indicator of Al Gore's hypocrisy--do as I say, not as I do! So, rather than make so many ludicrous attacks, try sticking to the subject.

Al Gore preaches that we should all conserve energy, even though he chooses to use 20 times more than what other Americans do. And his "justification" for doing so is that he is rich and can afford to pay for it.

Posted by: Steve Oklahoma | February 28, 2007 01:28 PM

The fact that Al Gore uses excessive amounts of energy is nothing surprising. John Edwards recently had a 20,000 sq. ft. home built. We all must make material sacrifices to lower our environmental impacts and everyone, including our politicians, should champion this effort. It is extremely hypocritical for Al Gore to come out with a movie about saving the environment and keep using so much energy just as it is hypocritical for John Edwards to claim he fights poverty while he lives in the largest home in his county.

Posted by: justin | February 28, 2007 01:33 PM

>>> They are also "optional" and "more expensive" and the fact that someone actually buys them indicates that they are NOT a hypocrite.

So, in other words, if you're rich enough you can buy your way out of trouble with the environmental police?

Here's an idea: How about he make charitable contributions, and direct contributions, to those groups and entities that want to save the planet, AND reduce his own consumption. They're not mutually exclusive.

Posted by: Mark | February 28, 2007 01:34 PM

I love the way the Gore-loving libs attack the messenger rather than attack the facts.

Al Gore is living high off the hog and using a lot of energy for just him and Tipper. FACT. Nothing wrong with that but he is being a hypocrite for not doing more himself. Buying offsets or energy credits is not an option the rest of us can afford.

He tells others to use less while he jets around using a lot more energy in private planes or big SUV's. FACT. In his position as former Vice President, former Senator he earns a living doing speeches promoting his causes (mostly global warming) but he doesn't act in an environmentally friendly way between speeches. See Ed Begley Jr. who lives what he preaches.

President Bush uses far less energy than Al Gore (4000 sq. ft. house is pretty small when you factor in all the Secret Service and other people required by law to be with the President) . FACT.

Al Gore won more votes in 2000 but didn't get elected because the electoral college determines who becomes President. This is the fourth time that more votes didn't win the election. FACT Get over it.

Global Warming has little to do with man's actions and the United States alone should not be responsible for cleaning up the world's messes.

Posted by: Truth Teller | February 28, 2007 01:34 PM

Judging from his girth, algore would have a mighty big carbon footprint.

But let me ask you this, Mr Peabrain, does this mean that since my Bible Class teacher has stopped smoking that I can now smoke his share and somehow we are both better off?

Posted by: Mr Peabody | February 28, 2007 01:38 PM

Dept. of Revenue says conservative think tank 'not a legitimate group'

By John Rodgers, jrodgers@nashvillecitypaper.com
February 16, 2007

The state's Department of Revenue is refusing to respond to inquiries from a conservative watchdog organization over a controversial tax, labeling them "not a legitimate group."

The Tennessee Center for Policy Research (TCPR), who bills themselves as an "independent, nonprofit and nonpartisan research and educational institute," made the inquiries to different employees of the Department of Revenue in early January regarding the unauthorized substances tax's budget.

A City Paper public records request revealed inner-department e-mails about the decision not to respond to the Tennessee Center for Policy Research or its executive director, Drew Johnson.

The conservative watchdog group has been very critical of the unauthorized substances tax, or the "crack tax," which requires drug dealers to buy stamps from the state showing that they have paid taxes on the illicit drugs.

TCPR says administering the tax costs more than the revenues the state collects and cites a Davidson County Chancery Court ruling that the tax is unconstitutional.

Officials in the revenue department elected not to respond to TCPR's phone calls about the "crack tax."

"Heads up: Several in the department are receiving calls from this group, re: the unauthorized substances tax. Please let your staff know this is not a legitimate group and therefore, we're not responding to them. Let me know if anyone in your group is contacted by them. (By the way, this is Drew Johnson's org.) Thanks," a Jan. 3 e-mail from Director of Communications Emily Richard to the revenue department's general counsel and its audit director.

In response, Johnson said the revenue department is "overtly keeping information from the public" and "overtly trying to block information from a group that they are afraid might be critical of them."

"It doesn't matter if it's some guy in his basement wanting to call and know how much this budget number is," Johnson said. "It's not their role to decide who receives essentially public information -- how tax dollars are spent."

In addition, an e-mail from Richard to two of Gov. Phil Bredesen's top communications aides -- Bob Corney, Bredesen's director of communications, and Rachel Lassiter, the deputy press secretary -- showed the governor's office was aware of how the situation was being handled.

"The Tennessee Center for Policy Research has called several people in the department, including me, re: unauthorized substances tax. As you know, this is Drew Johnson's group. We are not responding to the calls," Richard's e-mail to Corney and Lassiter read.

Another Jan. 3 e-mail, from Department of Revenue Attorney Brian Ramming to the Department of Revenue's General Counsel, David Gerregano, had a more candid reaction to TCPR's inquiries.

"Not legitimate? Drew Johnson would be crushed to hear us say that!" Ramming wrote. "I'm not suprised (sic) he is snooping around."

Reagan Farr, the new commissioner of the Department of Revenue, listed for The City Paper reasons why the Department of Revenue said the TCPR was not a "legitimate organization."

Farr said TCPR did not follow "the proper channels" by not directing all of their inquiries to Richard, the department's spokeswoman. He said TCPR representatives were calling different employees of the Department of Revenue and not specifically working through Richard.

Farr said they also misrepresented themselves as "college students," "couched facts" and didn't correct an "inaccurate report" after being alerted regarding the unauthorized substances tax.

"As long as they refuse to follow the proper procedures to obtain information, we're not going to deal with them," Farr said.

Johnson said the argument about not going through the "proper channels" is "not valid" because the first call TCPR made after the revenue department released a press release promoting the unauthorized substances tax was to Richard.

In addition, Johnson denies that representatives of the TCPR said they were college students and maintains that he did correct a June 2005 report regarding the unauthorized substances tax.

Farr said the TCPR's conservative ideology was not why their questions weren't answered.

"Their complete lack of professionalism is why," Farr said.

The Department of Revenue's General Counsel, David A. Gerregano, noted in a letter to The City Paper that Richard's statements "in no way violated the Public Records Act."

Gerregano said the Public Records Act only pertains to "requests to inspect agency records" and does not cover Richard's statements in the e-mails.

"Requests for employees of the department to make statements or answer questions are not within the scope of the Act, and refusals to answer such requests do not violate the Act," Gerregano wrote in the Feb. 14 letter.

Johnson said the reason why TCPR did not file an official, written public records request was because they wanted to "respond pretty immediately" to the Department of Revenue's press release about money raised by the "crack tax" and therefore made phone calls to revenue employees.

Robb Harvey, an attorney who works in intellectual property and media litigation for Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, said the state's Public Records Act provides protection for people wanting documents, but it can't require someone to return phone calls.

Corney said he thought the Department of Revenue, Farr and Richard handled the situation correctly.

http://nashvillecitypaper.com/index.cfm?section=9&screen=news&news_id=54656

Posted by: drudgeVsJesus | February 28, 2007 01:39 PM

Posted by: JesusMary | February 28, 2007 01:40 PM

Does this offset make my butt-print look fat?

Posted by: Barbra Streisand | February 28, 2007 01:42 PM

While I may not agree with the politics of this think tank that brought up Gore's energy consumption, I applaud them for bringing it up. I've been annoyed for years about people like Gore and other celebrities who encourage me to leave less of a carbon imprint. Leonardo Dicaprio recently asked me and all other Americans to unplug their cell-phone chargers from the wall when not in use. Perhaps Leonardo should instead quit jet-setting around the world and burning jet-fuel. I dare say that will make more of a difference in carbon emissions than having me unplug my cellphone from the wall. And I don't care how much money Gore pays to offset the effect of his inordinately large home. It doesn't change the fact that he doesn't need to live in such a monstrosity and that he is using precious fossil fuels to live in it. Wise up politicians and celebrities - if you're going to get all high and mighty about the environment, you better change your lifestyle.

Posted by: Jill | February 28, 2007 01:56 PM

I'm going up to Home depot and buying whatever programmable thermostat they have on sale, and sell them on ebay at double the price as "ENERGY OFFSETS". Thanks for the great idea, Al Gore.

Posted by: Mr Peabody | February 28, 2007 01:57 PM

Offsets are a way for the wealthy to move credits around. If Al Gore is using 221,ooo KWH of power per year that is 22.1 KWH per SF for his 10,000 SF house. The average for homes in that area assuming a 2,500 SF home is 6.24 KWH per SF. It's not about buying credits it's about changing life styles. Get on board Al.

Posted by: Larry | February 28, 2007 02:03 PM

Don't you know Al Gore invented the environment

Posted by: John | February 28, 2007 02:03 PM

Well off liberals who speak out against global warming should be forced to live in tents, read by candlelight, and crap in a bucket. Maybe that would placate the idiotic GOP hit squad.

Posted by: Riggs | February 28, 2007 02:14 PM

Posted by: God1 | February 28, 2007 02:16 PM

These TCPR/Drudge swift boat-style obfuscations are truly amazing. Al Gore has never advocated that we just stop using electricity in our homes to fight global warming. All he has advocated is that Americans make a few MODEST changes - i.e. put in a few low watt light bulbs, install a timer on our furnace, etc. No big deal - simple things that both he and we can easily do - today - without fuss or muss. And with just these few changes, the impact on the environment will be very positive. If Al Gore was advocating some extreme message that America needs to go back to living in the Stone Ages, then the TCPR complaints would have some merit. But that is not at all what he is advocating. Unfortunately his political enemies are deliberately choosing to "mis-speak" even this most simplest of messages.

Posted by: | February 28, 2007 02:16 PM

The reason most sane people are opposed to Al Gore's global warming fictions are that what he has been moving towards pushing an acceptance of the Kyoto protocols. That would bankrupt the US economy without penalty to China, India or Russia. Remember that this came up for a vote in the Senate early in the first Clinton administration. The vote was something like 95-2 against Kyoto. Even John Kerry voted against it although he has said that Bush was responsible for the US not approving Kyoto. Different President, different Senate.

Posted by: Truth Teller | February 28, 2007 02:29 PM

(2007-02-28) -- Oscar-winning filmmaker Al Gore today expanded his call for Americans to reduce their output of greenhouse gases -- the so-called carbon-footprint -- adding a demand to cut the rate of adult-onset obesity, which he termed "your gluteal fatprint."

Speaking to fellow Oscar winners who flew in to Nashville last night for a banquet at his 10,000 square-foot residence, Mr. Gore explained that Americans burn too much carbon-rich fuel, and eat too much fatty food.

While conservative groups have attacked Mr. Gore's "hypocrisy" on the global-warming issue, since his Tennessee home burns 15 times the electricity of the average home and he often flies on corporate jets, Mr. Gore maintains that he lives a "carbon-neutral" lifestyle because he also invests in solar and wind energy projects to counterbalance his own substantial carbon-footprint.

"Many people don't realize that I also live a fat-neutral lifestyle," Mr. Gore said. "While the inconvenient truth is that I've gained a few pounds since I beat George Bush at the polls in 2000, I also makes large investments in companies that produce bran, sprouts and legumes, thereby reducing my "real feel" weight to around 175."

Posted by: Mr Peabody | February 28, 2007 02:33 PM

Drudge is an ass wipe. Case closed.

Posted by: Bill Monroe | February 28, 2007 02:36 PM

Al Gore has so many inconvenient truths of his own. More proof that some animals consider themselves more equal than others (that would be the rest of us peasants).

Posted by: Rufus | February 28, 2007 02:42 PM

Drudge is a glorified gossip columnist, and Limbaugh is the biggest hypocrite on the block. The *voice of the little guy* is a thrice divorced, draft avoiding drug addict who lives alone in a 30,000 sq ft palace and makes millions of dollars a year lecturing his gullible listeners about morality and patriotism.

Why does anyone pay attention to these blowhards?

Posted by: slowhand | February 28, 2007 02:45 PM

Remember the words "no controlling legal authority" and now these new words "carbon footprints and carbon offsets". They are all esoteric legalisms meaning "I'll do as I please but put a pseudo legal-scientific spin on it". Trouble is ain't nobody going to fall for it.
As an aside when people look at that dumpling in a suit casing they see fat...I see cortisone. I don't think he'll run for President unless he is willing to answer health questions,JMO.

Posted by: tulip2 | February 28, 2007 02:45 PM

reading the comments of the liberals is proof of my long held contention that liberalism is merely a form of mental illness. If one simply repeats the news that Gore says on thing, while doing another, such as using twice as much energy as the average household is called a smear. So to mindless liberals, thelling the truth about one of their icons is a smear. These people are a joke. We on the right would love to see this insane idiot run in 08. Then he would have to asnwer questions about his work of pure fiction, particularly as to why the IPCC chart producec in 1995 which showed a Medieval Warming Period where the earth's temperature was warmer than it is now, had that period removed when it was reprinted in 2000, as the idiot was running for president. There are a hundred simlilar instances that he needs to talk about. Why do think this genius refuses to debate any credible scientist on this issue. Because being a failed divinity and law student tells who this clown really is.

Tony Moschetti

Posted by: Tony Moschetti | February 28, 2007 02:47 PM

Posted by: Mr Peabody | February 28, 2007 02:48 PM

Posted by: wingers | February 28, 2007 02:50 PM

It is amazing the degree to which all of the comments in this thread talk past each other. The facts are fairly simple. 1. Mr. Gore uses more energy than 4 or 5 other Americans combined. He does so in part because he lives in a huge house. 2. Mr. Gore flies around the country advocating policies designed to force other people to lower their energy usage for what he regards as good reasons. 3. He tries to mitigate his high energy usage by paying above market rates for renewable energy and by buying carbon credits.

The problem I have is with the second point. If he truly believed that everyone should sacrifice by reducing energy consumption then he should lead by example. This is the same point the critics of 'chickenhawks' make. Why is that hard to understand?

Posted by: Sam | February 28, 2007 02:52 PM

Why is that Think Progress is identified as a liberal web site, but there is no characterization as to the orientation of the Drudge Report, which is about as right wing as you can get?

Posted by: mrmetrowest | February 28, 2007 02:54 PM

Amen Sam!

Posted by: Jill | February 28, 2007 02:55 PM

Once again no one bothers to check out the facts before printing and broadcasting crap. And thats what all this is - crap.

***OUR CHILDREN ARE DYING IN IRAQ IN CASE YOU HAVENT NOTICED

The petty ante antics of Matt Sludge and others have no other purpose than to divert your attention from the aforementioned statement.

Posted by: DW | February 28, 2007 02:58 PM

Here's my question. Does anybody fact-check the stories Drudge pushes before they repeat them? Are all oppo research stories similarly passed on uncritically? I know the MSM is a commercial medium, and they need to fill pages and time, and a good gossipy attack does that, but Drudge's credibility for this sort of thing is absymal. In this case, it's complete BS fronted by an astroturf organization, but most news accounts to date haven't bothered to give full context to a) Gore's electric bill and b) the people making these silly charges.

Posted by: Batocchio | February 28, 2007 02:59 PM

Drudge is a homosexual and is evil in the sight of God. I for one will not believe the lies that are found on his rotten website.

We don't need no stinkin' Drudges!

Gooooooooooooooooooooooooo Al. Please run for President in 2008.

Posted by: Grace House | February 28, 2007 03:02 PM

Conservatives have completely divorced themselves from reality, and are now content to make up their own Bizzaro world. If you have any doubts, google "Conservapedia" and prepare yourself to either laugh or cry.

Posted by: eph | February 28, 2007 03:03 PM

"Get the tinfoil hats out... The Whack-a-Doo Liberals are breathing fire."

A tinfoil hat is better than the dunce cap you're wearing......

Posted by: dan | February 28, 2007 03:06 PM

I love it.

The libs are trashing Bush for his BIG 4000 sf house that runs on geothermal energy while Gore gets a pass on his energy gulping 10,000 sf mansion. How does he use so much power? Is it the GrowLights in the basement? It would explain a lot about Al's weight gain.

Don't even get me started on Edward's new 30,000 sf estate in NC. Talk about 2 America's....

Posted by: TC Rider | February 28, 2007 03:07 PM

To simply call Drudge a hypocrit, scarcely begins to describe his role in the blogosphere. He replicates the actions
of an agent provateur, whose 'job' it
is to smear any opposition to the Nazi-like allegiance which Drudge appears to have to the Hard Right.

In the early 1980s, Jim Hunt as running for Senate in North Carolina, against the late Jessie Helms. In my capactiy as a left-wing organizer in New York City, I was called for contributions. I had little money to give Mr. Hunt. As it turned out, it was just as well.

A nut-case paper out in the sticks of NC, suggested that Mr. Hunt might have more than familial fondness for children. Hunt had been ahead in the polls, but this attack helped to break his momentum.

Later the 'editor' of the 'paper' admitted that his prior suggestions about Hunt were comparable to left wing comments about Helms, as if political disagreements between candidates, were comparable to sexual innuendo and smears.

Once the sexual innuendo was first stated, Mr. Hunt had about 5-6 days to get the matter under control. He had to go directly himself and see that 'editor' in his 'paper' and get right into that editors face. No denials or press releases mattered. The people of NC had to see that Hunt would not be smeared by some thug and not reply, in the medium best understood by local Carolians. Anything less, and Hunt was going to take a major hit.

I for one am sick and tired of half-truths and lies by any thug from the 'right'. There was a time in the early history of the United States, when a man had to back up his public statements, not in some press conference or some legal forum; but out on a river bank, one morning, with his 'second' close by, holding his coat.

While all was far from perfect in this system, I strongly believe that fewer out and out lies were told. Lies had sometimes, very serious consequences in 1800. If the lies from the right continue, that old time system may yet return; probably for the worse, but return nonetheless.

Posted by: R L Norman | February 28, 2007 03:13 PM

The funniest thing about this whole affair, to me, is how very little attention is being paid to this intellectually lazy right-wing smear campaign.

Sure, the republican brown shirts are all over it, and a few sites like this one. But back in the real world, this story is playing 3rd fiddle to a kid who died from a toothache (poor guy).

I can understand why the neocons are pissed, though. They're banking their 2008 hopes on a "flip-flopper" who wears magic underwear (Romney). Hell, the leading democrat is more conservative than all but one of the republicans in the race... much to their chagrin AND ours. :(

Posted by: Ryan | February 28, 2007 03:13 PM

Reading the comments on this site makes "Idiocracy" look like a reality show.

Posted by: mikey | February 28, 2007 03:15 PM

First off, Al Gore is not running (per his own admission) for president and if you look at the pols in the article in this fine publication today, you would see that his rating is 14% where Hillary's is something like 47% and Obama's is around 27%. Gore is out, H and O are in. Second off, you can get all technical about the power usage thing, but who cares...Gore has a massive mansion and a ton of money. Buying carbon credits is like buying a plot in outer space...useless. He should have the most environmentally friendly house around if you think about it. It's not like he can't afford it, unlike the vast majority of the American public. Even Tyvek home wrap is expensive as hell. The basic message...Gore, like most of you people (and myself) posting on this board are HYPOCRITES. Gore is just a hypocrite in the public eye with a purported cause. Who cares what political party he is in, or Drudge is in, or who you are in? Stick to the issues and not partisan politics and bigotry. It's ridiculous...truly.

Posted by: BMW | February 28, 2007 03:16 PM

Add "name stealing" to the list of Republican crimes against the truth.

When smacked on a neutral comment thread, all the Republicans have left is thievery, lying and cheating.

Their end is nigh...

Posted by: Mr. Peabody-the real one | February 28, 2007 03:17 PM

OK, now that we have Mr. Gore's electric bill, let's get ALL the politician's and corporate exec's energy bills. Any one want to bet that the top 1 percent uses as much as the rest of us combined?

Posted by: dick c | February 28, 2007 03:20 PM

Gasp! Al Gore is a hypocrite!

Gasp!! We are all hypocrites!

GASP!!! Matt Drudge is a hypocrite?

No, Matt Drudge is merely being the stinky, pimply twelve-year-old he really is, high-pitched giggle and all. Discovering that grown-ups have bad breath and fart and sometimes sleep with their nightlights on is a big part of the fun of being twelve. Continuing to pretend one is shocked by such discoveries is the fun of being an adult hypocrite, of which the cynic is but one subspecies. The pious hypocrite is another. From the viewpoint of the satirist, the world is wonderfully full of these types, and political parties rely on them.

But that doesn't change the strength of Al's message.

Grow up. All of you.

Posted by: I'm Only Visiting | February 28, 2007 03:20 PM

I was wrong in my earlier post about the timing of the Kyoto Protocol votes (95-0 actual vs my estimate of 95-2). Here is an except from Wikipedia on this (I know that use of Wikipedia is at one's own hazard):

"On July 25, 1997, before the Kyoto Protocol was finalized (although it had been fully negotiated, and a penultimate draft was finished), the U.S. Senate unanimously passed by a 95-0 vote the Byrd-Hagel Resolution (S. Res. 98),[44][45] which stated the sense of the Senate was that the United States should not be a signatory to any protocol that did not include binding targets and timetables for developing as well as industrialized nations or "would result in serious harm to the economy of the United States". On November 12, 1998, Vice President Al Gore symbolically signed the protocol. Both Gore and Senator Joseph Lieberman indicated that the protocol would not be acted upon in the Senate until there was participation by the developing nations.[46] The Clinton Administration never submitted the protocol to the Senate for ratification."

Posted by: Truth Teller | February 28, 2007 03:21 PM

No wander Rush does drugs. It is so damn silly how the Repugs love playing in the mud. No wonder they can't get any tractions with the American public. I the Mud Report wants to publish something good, try promoting the end of body bags coming home from a lie Bush and Cheney created. With the bill over $2 TRILLION and a body count 3100 and growing and 20,000 seriously injured, this is trivial baby crap.

Posted by: Ralph | February 28, 2007 03:24 PM

The reality is that we all need to start walking the talk on climate change. And that includes Al Gore, who has provided a wonderful service by raising awareness all over the world on global warning. It doesn't make him a hypocrite. It just shows that there are efforts we all can and should be making to reduce our carbon footprint. I hope Al does rethink that heated pool, and maybe close off some rooms during the winter. I hope everybody who has plans to move into a 4000 square foot dream house realizes how much all of us end up paying for their excess. We're all learning, including Al Gore.

If the wingnuts are hoping to derail efforts to respond to climate change by pointing out that no one is perfect, shame on them. It is amazing how many distractions and red herrings they are willing to throw up in order to avoid coming to terms with this very real very immediate problem. It's getting pathological already.

Posted by: | February 28, 2007 03:25 PM

And now the award for best science fiction writer goes to??......Envelope Please..........AL Gore - for "How to Kill a Watt"...and starring Best Actor "Carbon Footprint"......Best cinematography...."Gore plantation"....and finally...best screen/script writing .."How to get over the America People"

Posted by: | February 28, 2007 03:27 PM

To Mr. Limbaugh and his minions: not that you ever let facts get in the way of your bile but GW and Laura Bush have 2 children and have parents with one or more large residences for family gatherings. The Gores have 4 children, several grand-children and they do not have multi-millionaire parents and other extended family members to visit like the Bush family. So, we may never know which family is more "Eco friendly," -- but when Limbaugh makes his direct comparisons, they are obviously meaningless, mean-spirited and partisan.

Posted by: Louise | February 28, 2007 03:34 PM

" modest 4,000 square foot home..."


Everyone is so out of touch with the common person. Why do we even listen to anyone.

Posted by: Toby | February 28, 2007 03:37 PM

Do any of the Haters in these comments even understand what a "Carbon Credit" is?
Can they explain what they are, and why they hate the idea?

By the way no one on this discussion even knows what the real size of President Bush's home is or Vice President Al Gore's, so a lot of these posts are stupid and childish. We know from pictures and news reports that Bush's ranch has multiple buildings, so Rush's contention about the size of Bush's ranch is straight from where he gets most of his "facts," his big white butt.

Are we next going to try to compare the Bush compound in Maine with Gore's family land?

And considering President Bush did not move into the ranch until 1999 and so comparing the Gore family Ranch, which is and had been a real operational ranch and the campaign prop GWB bought in 1999 which does no real ranch work, this whole comparison is just stupid.

Yes folks that "real" man of the people, the "rancher" from out west, is a completely hoax. His stay at the ranch during the summer of 2005 is the longest consecutively he ever stayed at his ranch.

Now the President is using geothermal energy for one of the buildings on his property and should be commended. But then Al Gore gets all of his power from Solar and Wind. So basically this whole "Scandle" is just stupid. Hence Rush talks about it. Because that's all he has, Hate.

How about getting some facts before going on these stupid rants. Also how about debate the real issues instead of attacking the messanger.

Posted by: RPRobertson | February 28, 2007 03:39 PM

R L Norman - Contrary to your liberal wet dreams, the Honorable Jesse Helms is still very much alive, just retired from the Senate and no doubt getting a few belly laughs from the contortions of liberals on sites like this, trying to justify their idol's hypocritical stands on global warming.

Posted by: | February 28, 2007 03:41 PM

HE'S USING RENEWABLE ENERGY!!!! DUH!!

Posted by: kmarcus122 | February 28, 2007 03:41 PM

from http://www.fec.gov/pubrec/fe2000/prespop.htm: just a reminder that al can (and did)win....

2000 PRESIDENTIAL POPULAR VOTE SUMMARY
FOR ALL CANDIDATES LISTED ON AT LEAST ONE STATE BALLOT
(Updated 12/2001)

Candidate (Party Label) Popular Vote Total
Percent of Popular Vote


Al Gore (Democrat) 50,999,897
48.38

George W. Bush (Republican) 50,456,002
47.87

Ralph Nader (Green) 2,882,955
2.74

Patrick J. Buchanan (Reform/Independent) 448,895
.42

Harry Browne (Libertarian) 384,431
.36

Howard Phillips (Constitution) 98,020
.09

John S. Hagelin (Natural Law/Reform/Independent) 83,714
.08

Write-In (Miscellaneous) 20,767*
.02

James E. Harris, Jr. (Socialist Workers) 7,378
.01

L. Neil Smith (Libertarian) 5,775
.00

David McReynolds (Socialist) 5,602
.00

Monica Moorehead (Workers World) 4,795
.00

None of These Candidates (Nevada) 3,315
.00

Cathy Gordon Brown (Independent) 1,606 .00

Denny Lane (Vermont Grassroots) 1,044 .00

Randall Venson (Independent) 535
.00

Earl F. Dodge (Prohibition) 208
.00

Louie G. Youngkeit (Independent) 161
.00

Total: 105,405,100*

Voting Age Population (Census Bureau Population Survey for November 2000): 205,815,000

Percentage of Voting Age Population casting a vote for President: 51.21%

Notes:
Party designations vary from one state to another. Vote totals for the candidates listed above include any write-in votes they received.
* Totals do not include the 138,216 miscellaneous write-in, blank and void votes that were compiled as one total in New York.

Back to:

Table of Contents

ELECTIONS AND VOTING - FEC HOME PAGE

Posted by: amanda | February 28, 2007 03:42 PM

There is something terribly wrong with this country. I'm not a Democrat, or a Republican, I'm an American. What happened to this nation? It isn't so much blue or red, but more of a bruised bloody purple.

Posted by: Post American | February 28, 2007 03:43 PM

Amanda - old news...Al Gore lost remember...or are you still having Florida night mares?......Get over it.

Posted by: | February 28, 2007 03:46 PM

ah...yes, the nightmare does continue....

my point however, was he does have a chance. Let's not get emotional....

Posted by: amanda | February 28, 2007 03:49 PM

Even if Al Gore is a hypocrite, does that mean that Global Warming isn't true?

Just because Al Gore isn't perfect doesn't mean that he is wrong on this issue. On the contrary, the failure of his critics to attack his scientific facts and focus on his character tells you more about them than it does about him.

Posted by: AxelDC | February 28, 2007 03:49 PM

There goes the Post (.com) again .... giving special coverage to right-wing hacks like Drudge. Why does the Post set up the debate as between Drudge and Gore? Why not Cheney and Gore? Now that would be a little more balanced! It's so easy to cover the rants of the right wingers. It fills up the space? But is it helpful to advancing meaningful debate? And iis it really rair?

Posted by: shocked | February 28, 2007 03:50 PM

>>>There is something terribly wrong with this country.

No, there isn't anything wrong with this country. The 2006 Election proved that there is something right with this country, namely, a repudiation of the right wing smear machine and the incompetent Bush administration.

There IS something wrong with the notion that right wing smear merchants have been allowed to get away with blatant lies and distortions. Welcome to a new era in American politics--the SmackDown of the WingNuts. They'll build a monument to the Conservative Wingnut, circa 2007, in New Orleans one day--a leaning, stinking pile of unremoved garbage is all it will need to be constructed out of, courtesy of Halliburton.

Charity cases, one and all, propped up with Wingnut Welfare and unleashed through the Internet, a marauding band of know-nothings and liars, with nothing on their side but a pathetic honor roll of patron saints--Rush "Hillbilly Heroin" Limbaugh, Matt "eggs" Drudge, Bill "$lot Machine" Bennett, Dick "salts his meat on both sides" Cheney and George W "Iraq War" Bush.

They all have something that sticks to them, and it isn't pretty. Gore is overweight and is working to save the planet--of course they have to go after him. It's all they know how to do.

Posted by: Mr. Peabody-the real one | February 28, 2007 03:53 PM

I loved the one about carbon footprint credits being 21st century indulgences. I could not agree more with a statement and the hypocrisy it exposes in America's "limousine liberals".

Posted by: Levin Fox | February 28, 2007 04:06 PM

Rush, Drudge and their Republic followers again! Oh my god. What is happening? Ale Gore. They are afraid again that they will lose the general Presidential election in 2008, just like they did in 2000! I know Rush is on drugs! I wonder what Drudge is on! I also know that both of them like some of their senators believe that trees are dangerous for us!

Posted by: azm2004 | February 28, 2007 04:13 PM

I've said for years that ZZ Top was better than Journey. But my friends told me I was wrong.

Posted by: PRND21 | February 28, 2007 04:22 PM

Conservatives, of all people, should understand why carbon credits work well. Basically, credits allocate the money to fight emissions to the cheapest method of mitigation. Say electrical use is worth $20 to you, and the cost of eliminating the same quantity of emissions that you created by using that electricity is only $5 using another technique. Then it's better to use the electricity and spend $5 on carbon credits than to give up the electricity usage at a cost of $20 of value. Heck, you could sacrifice the same $20 and get four times the return with carbon credits.

That's the model of economic efficiency, and the kind of thing that would make Reagan's economic staff click their heels with joy.

And, by the way, denying global warming means that you either deny the basics of atmospheric science, like the chemical composition of the atmosphere and the properties of those chemicals, or else you don't believe that humans burn things very often. Please clarify which part you disagree with.

Posted by: Economics | February 28, 2007 04:23 PM

Al gore has apparently not entered into his Carbon Footprint calculation the amount of energy required to supply him with an obvious over abundance of food nor did he consider a carbon footprint for the energy required to process his waste form that food.

Posted by: lewisohio | February 28, 2007 04:24 PM

In what kind of world does
one number for one six month period, unsubstantiated and only probably correct, with no knowledge of surrounding details or mitigating factors,
cancel out
an idea for a new way of life which a lot of research has supported as potentially necessary to keep our country and the world strong for centuries?
The old trick of "we're really bad, but the other guys are even worse (and we're gonna spend all our time attacking them and accomplishing nothing positive on our own to prove it)" isn't going to serve you Limbaugh-ites well next year. People are already starting to see through it in large numbers.
Why don't you start your comments with "I oppose energy conservation because..." instead of "I oppose Al Gore because...", and say what you really think on the issue here that is actually important. The people who fully practice this kind of conservation probably aren't in a financial position to fly around and advocate it, so they need Gore to do it for them.

Posted by: | February 28, 2007 04:24 PM

Someone hit a sore spot when they dug up the electric bill for Gore's mansion. You liberals can't stand it that your God, Al Gore is being held to the same standards as everyone else. I've heard every excuse out there, including flat-out denial that Gore could be this blatently guilty. It's sad, because Gore is fighting for a noble cause, unfortunately, it's hard for a rational person to take his ranting seriously when he obviously doesn't believe it either. I mean, why should anyone bother to conserve energy when the 'King of Konservation' himself won't?? It's a farce!

Posted by: 4shoes | February 28, 2007 04:25 PM

Of course there is global warming. Ten thousand years ago, there was a sheet of ice a mile thick covering Buffalo, NY.

It got warm and it melted. This is called a cycle. Has to do with variation in the orbit of the Earth and the variation in the solar radiation.

Global warming is not a religion. No one is going to behead you for believing the causes of global warming one way or the other.

There is an entity in this world that does behead non-believers. I suggest Hollywood, Al Gore and the rest of Western Civilization take note. Otherwise, you'll lose your head over the most trivial items.

Posted by: Mr. Peabrain | February 28, 2007 04:31 PM

Interesting that the Tennessee group that reported this has definite right-wing and/or conservative leanings. I agree with those who say that the Republicans are terrified of Gore. I mean he won the last time he ran...

Posted by: Darb | February 28, 2007 04:32 PM

Wake me up when Al Gore is wrong about something.

The internet, Iraq, the environment... Every time, Al Gore has been right years before anyone else realized it. No other political figure of his generation has had anywhere near his level of foresight.

And yes, his home uses a lot of energy -- perhaps because he works from home and has security. He's also held a number of major global warming events at his house in the last year, training volunteers and trying to ignite people to action. If you had twenty people staying at your house all the time, you would have a pretty hefty bill too, no matter how much you try to cut your consumption.

Posted by: You fools! | February 28, 2007 04:34 PM

Come on people, think it through. He's got a gigantic weed farm in the basement.

Posted by: weedexpert | February 28, 2007 04:34 PM

The GOP would love nothing more that to draw votes away from Hillary. Don't be fooled by this tact. Hillary / Obama in 2008.

Posted by: Frogman | February 28, 2007 04:40 PM

There are natural variations in climate! These have been happening for thousands of years! That means that global warming must be ok, and that humans couldn't possibly have any effect on climate that could be harmful.

Plus, don't forget that hurricanes are a natural phenomenon too. That means that hurricanes can't hurt anyone either!

Disease? Hey, if disease is naturally occuring, then surely we couldn't impact the amount of disease in the world by, say, washing our hands or getting our vaccines! And besides, if disease is natural, then it must be fine!

Yay!

Posted by: Unnijjit | February 28, 2007 04:42 PM

If Russ Feingold can't be induced to run, Al Gore is the next most logical person to be the next president.

Posted by: Desertstraw | February 28, 2007 04:50 PM

What the Tennessee Center for Policy Research should be written in stone and brought down by Moses from the Smokey Mountains. Tennessee Center for Policy Research is our most trusted news source on Planet Earth and should be trusted as if they were speaking from the lips of God herself.

Posted by: Peter in VA | February 28, 2007 04:52 PM

jdri: just because there have been previous warming periods in Earth history due to various causes does not mean that high concentrations of CO2, whatever the cause, are unrelated to warming. My understanding of the record is that the previous times there have been high concentrations of CO2, it has correlated to warming. While int he past htere may have been other causes, what is new here is that there is another cause - man-made emissions - that are on track to cause high concentrations in the atmosphere. You aren't arguing that the high the CO2 concentrations are not caused by humans? You seem to be saying high temperatures can be tolerated by the earth. In one sense, that has to be true - the old blue marble is still spinning. I don't think Gore would deny it'll spin even if we burned coal and oil without constraint. I think the concern is more with the disruption to existing populations and ecology. you aren't saying that the conditions you site - no polar ice, tropical temperatures at the poles, etc... woudl not cause chaos?

Posted by: jon | February 28, 2007 04:54 PM

It probably ticks off Rush that Al Gore is significantly RICHER than he is.

Limbaugh makes no effort to hide the fact that Rush wants to use his radio program and other activities to make MONEY.

So it must really bother Rush that Gore is richer and, of course, Gore uses far less energy than Limbaugh does.

Posted by: neil wilson | February 28, 2007 04:57 PM

Forget the CO2. The problem is methane. Stop eating meat and kill off the termites.

Posted by: Flavor | February 28, 2007 04:57 PM

TCPR is just another right wing smear tank and Drudge is a partisan hack. Neither of them ever tell the truth, let alone the whole story. It's always easy to see who threatens the right wingers the most by the frequency and viciousness of their attacks. Al Gore could live in a grass shack, lit by candles, and swim to China for speaking engagements, and they'd still find plenty of reasons to smear him. That's what they do, and you'd think that even their fellow conservatives would be getting a little sick of it by now. Personally, I don't have a problem with someone of Al Gore's stature and means living in a large home and being an environmental activist. I'm thankful for what Al Gore's done in raising awareness about global warming. I don't think trying to be more environmentally friendly means having to reduce your standard of living. He's been doing plenty to do his part. Frankly, Al Gore shouldn't have to justify why he has a large house to anyone.

Posted by: gwalters | February 28, 2007 04:59 PM

'Someone hit a sore spot when they dug up the electric bill for Gore's mansion. "
Key point it is a Mansion, and thus takes more power than the average House. The Drudge and company forgot to point out the many energy saving methods the Gore's have implemented and the fact they buy all Green Power, and also forgot to even ask VP Gore about his power bill before going Public the Night he won the big O. Wonder what they have planned for when President Elected Gore wins the biggest prize on the Planet (Noble Peace Prize)?

Posted by: Muddy | February 28, 2007 05:03 PM

Oh, please. Everyone just stop with all the demonizing hate speak.

As a political independent, I can tell you the hypocracy abounds in both parties.

Assuming Drudge and other assorted hatemongering conservatives are right and Al Gore is a hypocrite on the environment, please stop and consider what it means that GW Bush owns a "green" home but has instituted policies at every turn that trash the environment.

It means in his heart of hearts, he is an environmentalist, but he will do anything it takes to pander to the conservative corporate elite. That, people, is hypocracy.

Posted by: Nyck Nayme | February 28, 2007 05:03 PM

A typically stupid and meaningless conservative argument that tries to elevate an issue that is beside the point...the substantive claims of Al Gore's film. The two issues are nowhere near equal (and we don't know that Drudge's info is accurate, and probably is not).

Posted by: Khyber | February 28, 2007 05:05 PM

Some of these comments are quite ridiculous. I wish that people criticizing Al Gore's home energy usage would use the same amount of energy in questioning the lies of the Bush Administration. Of course, that would take significant amounts of mental energy and many of the Gore-bashers writing in this comment area are clearly lacking it.

Posted by: SDP | February 28, 2007 05:05 PM

So it appears according to our Republicant friends that the government needs to tax Al Gore more so he can't buy a large house and consume too much electricity. I concur and believe we should raise the marginal rates steeply for those making over 200K per year.
Plus we need a carbon tax as well.

Posted by: solutions | February 28, 2007 05:12 PM

The idiots who believe the TCPR report that Gore uses 221 Mhw worth of power should keep this in mind--a nuclear power plant is ONLY capable of producing a peak power output of between 500-2000 megs. If he is indeed using that much power I guess he has got 200 foot cooling towers and an AEC permit at his residence. IDIOTS--you believe everything from a neocon thinktank.

Posted by: | February 28, 2007 05:17 PM

I am critical of Gore on this issue and am in no way a "Gore-basher." The reality is that Gore opened himself up to such criticism when he decided to become an outspoken environmentalist. If you're going to lecture people on how they should live, then maybe you should realize that they're going to turn the microscope on your affairs as well! I agree with a few others that the indulgence comparison regarding these energy credits is brilliant. It's a way for rich people to feel less bad about using so much energy.

Posted by: Jill | February 28, 2007 05:19 PM

wow...never seen so many idiots in one place. i guess placing the spotlight on gore is supposed to make us forget about the pathetic piece of work-in-chief? i think not. more smoke and mirrors from the whacko right.

Posted by: lil ole me | February 28, 2007 05:20 PM

A correction to my previous post: his home uses 221000 kilowatts not megawatts--an equivalent of 2210 100 watt lightbulbs on for 24 hours a day, 365 days a week. If this is indeed true, he still would need a power plant at his home.

Posted by: | February 28, 2007 05:24 PM

"Carbon Offsets" are a scam used by people who want to act environmentally friendly but don't actually want to give up their big cars, private jets, and mansions. It is the moral equivalent of thinking you can donate money to a church and then commit any crime you want. When you defend the process and accuse people of failing to understand it, you are embarrassing yourself. Its too bad this concept wasn't in place 60 years ago: Mahatma Gandhi could have lived in a big mansion and eaten steak all day without any moral qualms, according to your logic.

Posted by: Reality Check | February 28, 2007 05:24 PM

Algore is most definitely NOT running for president. Here is all the proof you need.

According to a recent story in the Tennessean about Algore's monster energy use Algore's greeness includes driving a "Lexus hybrid".

Lexus?

Ain't that Toyota?

That's no way to gain favor with the UAW, an absolute necessity for a Democratic candidate.

Make no mistake about it. When Algore bought a Lexus he gave up any idea of ever running for President as a Democrat.

Posted by: Joe Sixpack | February 28, 2007 05:25 PM

Lil Ole Me, you sound like the whacko left. How silly to label all your opponents idiots. I consider myself an equal opportunity critic, as I'm sure many others are. I criticize Gore, just as I regularly criticize Bush. You can do both at once!

Posted by: Jill | February 28, 2007 05:26 PM

what is wrong with me? that's supposed to be 365 days a year!

Posted by: | February 28, 2007 05:26 PM

The point is not to respond to the charge with facts that offset the claim. The charge that needs to be made is the media reporting (Limbaugh, etc). They simply do not go out and get the whole story. Gore et al need to come back with the following:

The inept incompetent and incomplete reporting is shameful. The gutless tactic accusing instead of investigating shows the contempt members of the media have for the American people. The American people view sources like Limbaugh Drudge Fox not as credible news sources -- but as liars. With good reason. When the media makes up a headline without investigating -- the public sees this wind of the media as lying bastards ... and they are right.

Posted by: AL | February 28, 2007 05:30 PM

So you are saying that someone that has one 10,000 sq foot house which uses more electicity in one month than most in one year, flies a jet that in his trip to the Oscars put out more carbon than an Escalade does in a year isn't a hypocrite? Give me a break. I am not saying global warming isn't an issue, I am saying that someone who tell everyone else about the issue, should consume more than a 100 times the average resources themselves.

Posted by: DownSouth | February 28, 2007 05:30 PM

Purchasing carbon offsets sounds suspiciosly like the practice of indulgences for the Catholic Church in Medieval times. The idea that money alone could somehow absolve ones actions, be it sins or CO2 emissions is just as absurd today as it was several hundred years ago.

Posted by: Guy | February 28, 2007 05:41 PM

Dear Rob,

So Drudge Report is just a "wildly popular online news outlet" ? !

That's like saying Pig Boy Limbaugh is an objective, non-partisan voice of moderation.

Get a clue my friend. Your whole post looks really stupid when you start of with a whopper like that!

Posted by: Maria | February 28, 2007 05:45 PM

Wow, you're covering an issue that happened three days ago...good to see Rob Anderson and the crack team at the Post are keeping up with those nutty kids and their crazy Internet these days. Do you guys operate in some sort of Bizzaro world slow motion time warp? You just heard about this? It's breaking news? I think Drudge has gone through three new headlines since then. Kind of the opposite of breaking stories...more like sweeping them up. This was once the paper that broke the Watergate scandal?

Posted by: ZZZZZZZZZZ | February 28, 2007 05:46 PM

Seems that the Oscar awarded to the movie about Al Gore's presntation has struck a nerve in the League of Republican Lying Ass MoFos.

Al Gore is a hypocrite! Al Gore's a hypcrite! He lives in a mansion!

You want hypocrisy? I got your hypocrisy RIGHT HERE:

"I'm a uniter, Not a divider."
--G W Bush

Posted by: Mister Methane | February 28, 2007 05:47 PM

Please don't mention facts to liberals, it makes them mad and forces their hypocrisy to be noticed. Typical liberal do as I say, not as I do. HYPOCRITES!!!!!!!!

Posted by: pATRICK | February 28, 2007 05:49 PM

All this trash talk proves to me is that the Neocons are scared silly that Gore will run again. I love it. Kiss the GOPigs goodbye

Posted by: banneroos | February 28, 2007 05:52 PM

Hooray for Drudge, he reports what the liberal lapdog media won't. They don't want to lose that cocktail invitation from their liberal friends.

Posted by: Wesley | February 28, 2007 05:53 PM

One just has to realize the right wing lies and lies incessantly; they simply can't stand the thought that Al gore is right about Global Warming and they are wrong. The Tennessee Center for Policy Research claims to be nonpartisan, but if you vist their website, you'll see they are just another right wing hack job, like Drudge. Okay, let's talk about inconsistency. How about a VP who loves to send other people to die and be maimed, yet when his time came to serve, he managed six deferrments in a row. Al Gore's a hero; Cheney is a traitor. I know you right wingers the truth hurts. Get used to it.

Posted by: Doug Arnold | February 28, 2007 05:56 PM

I take exception to the first statement in this article: "The Drudge Report is known mostly as a wildly popular online news outlet". It is loved by those republicans who loved to smear Clinton a while ago and still for the way Drudge posts anything anti Democratic. I would like to know what this Tennessee Policy group is doing involving itself in this when it's own website states its goals and this smear of Al Gore is not one of them. I would also like to know how anyone got Al Gore's electricity bills in the first place? It seems that this is a concentrated effort by Drudge, ring wing sites and especially Sean Hannity to once again demean anything involved in what they appear to be a myth and that global warming is a figment of someone's imagination. Perhaps they are also afraid that Gore might decide to change his mind about running for office and they will get their licks in early?
This whole attack is an orchestrated attempt for some reason to either diminish his involvement with the movie or to divert attention from something - perhaps the Walter Reed Scandalous treatment of your injured soldiers? If this reflects the media attention to "NEWS" then we are all indeed in a sorry shape. This is nothing more than another smear attempt that should have stayed on the right wing blogs or Fox where it belongs.

Posted by: canadianvisitor | February 28, 2007 06:01 PM

Liberals are the biggest traitors this country has ever seen. They pray for defeat in IRAQ just to jeer at Bush, they cheer when our markets go down becuase it might make Bush look bad, they want the US to sign on to KYOTO and lose jobs but have no problem exempting Communist China and India. Liberals are disgusting traitors and only feel good when trashing the US and protesting something.

Posted by: Andrew | February 28, 2007 06:02 PM

Righties are on the defense, and have to come up with diverion tactic. Most everyone is keen to their lies. The public does not trust ANYTHING the right says these days. When they did, 3000 lives died in vain. Sad.

Posted by: Al Jr. | February 28, 2007 06:04 PM

Sure CANADIANVISTOR, wouldn't want those embarrassing facts to be told about our hero Gore would we. Any thing but an oscar and a kiss is considered smearing by liberal hacks.

Posted by: pATRICK | February 28, 2007 06:05 PM

No critic has a leg to stand on if Al Gore offsets the carbon footprint by 100 percent. Neither can they criticize him if he has installed solar panels on his roof. Most of all, they cannot criticize the man who has done the most to bring the problem of Global Warming to the front of everyones conscious.

Posted by: KEVIN SCHMIDT, STERLING VA | February 28, 2007 06:09 PM

Now our so called allies want to pull out of Afghanistan. Seems people want to shoot them! Can't have that, we leftists and liberals can't stand the thought of shooting any brown skinned peoples. Besides we have to get back to our 35 hour work weeks. Leftists and liberals, cowards the whole world over.

Posted by: Weskley | February 28, 2007 06:10 PM

I had no idea Rush Limbaugh was still alive. And he still has a radio show? And he used that show to call someone else a hypocrite? Amazing.

Posted by: Vlad | February 28, 2007 06:12 PM

-- Gore has had a consistent position of purchasing carbon offsets to offset the family's carbon footprint --

So it is okay to pollute as long as you are rich enough to hire someone to clean up the mess? I wonder if Gore supports this logic for Coal Plants, Refineries and SUV's.

Posted by: Thackney | February 28, 2007 06:13 PM

I've got to say this is hilarious. The left wingers are all over the map in the 100+ messages on this blog. The normal and expected: "Gore won in 2000"; the "Bush is an idiot"; the "Bush Lied"; the "Iraq bad"; the "Cheney big oil"; the "Global Warming as religion and fact"; "Limbaugh's a druggie"; "Drudge is a right-winger"; shooting the messenger (TCPR); etc.

No one has succinctly or credibly defended why the world's most prominent and noted speaker against the sin of human-caused global warming has a carbon footprint the size of Texas, mitigated only by the questionable practice of "Carbon Offsets" [properly characterized as the 21st century equivalent of indulgences].

You guys are fun to watch! Have fun at the Moveon.org meetings!

Posted by: Mark | February 28, 2007 06:14 PM

Conservatives are the biggest traitors this country has ever seen. They pray for more war in Iran just to jeer at the Democrats, they cheer when the war profiteers stocks go up becuase it might make Democrats look bad, they want the US to sign on to Free Trade and lose jobs but have no problem exempting Communist China and India. Conservatives are disgusting traitors and only feel good when trashing the world and starting another imperialist genocidal war of choice.

Posted by: Andrew | February 28, 2007 06:02 PM

I corrected a couple of mistakes in your comment.

Posted by: | February 28, 2007 06:17 PM

Gore has other problems than using more than his share of our countries energy, being a hypocrite, and acting like an elitist fat hog that he is -- remember, he is on the Apple Board of Directors, and some shady stuff has been going on with Steve Jobs stock options. All the rich, spoiled lying Hollywood types talk bad about CEO pay, when an actor makes $20 million for 6 weeks work, as opposed to the working people at the studios. All the private planes are for them, not us regular people. And Norman Mailer has a 22 car garage and a prominent journalist noticed his biweekly garbage collection had 12 garbage cans. Two people live in his house. Al Gore is not loved by most Americans. Show me a poll. He is loved by 500 academy voters.

Posted by: Karen | February 28, 2007 06:18 PM

That d*mn Drudge is a homosexual and should be shunned. He's the puke who broke the story of the cum-stained blue dress that got Bill Clinton in so much trouble.

Now THERE is a liar for you! First Class, A+ over superior rating.

David Geffen would be wise to avoid Ft Marcy Park, that's for sure.

Posted by: Monica L | February 28, 2007 06:18 PM

Mark | February 28, 2007 06:14 PM Have fun at the torture innocent men, women and children meetings!

Posted by: KEVIN SCHMIDT, STERLING VA | February 28, 2007 06:19 PM

Karen | February 28, 2007 06:18 PM No one believes your stupid lies.

Posted by: KEVIN SCHMIDT, STERLING VA | February 28, 2007 06:20 PM

To pATRICK:
What embarrassing facts would you care to dispute? Someone saying they know his energy consumption? Can your private electric bill be accessed by perhaps me, to see your consumption or is that private between you and your provider? Where did this info actually come from and can you attest to its validity? And by the way, isn't it better news hearing that your support of the troops is relegating them to live in mold and mousedroppings or they have been told they can no longer talk to the media so you can actually try and do something about that? I guess perhaps smearing Al Gore is so much more fun than actually thinking what your wounded heroes are being forced to endure or those being sent over in the surge aren't properly equipped or won't be til long after they are sent over to the streets of Baghdad. Heck - important stuff like is so much less fun than attacking Al Gore's involvement in a film.

Posted by: canadianvisitor | February 28, 2007 06:21 PM

I agree Mark - this discussion is hilarious. The usual comments from lefties, and righties as well -

Liberals are cowards that hate America; the evil, left-wing media; global warming is a lie; Kyoto is a scam; all libs are members of Move-on like all conservatives are members of the Klan; etc.

Good stuff.

Posted by: Chuck | February 28, 2007 06:23 PM

Mark: "No one has succinctly or credibly defended why the world's most prominent and noted speaker against the sin of human-caused global warming has a carbon footprint the size of Texas, mitigated only by the questionable practice of "Carbon Offsets" [properly characterized as the 21st century equivalent of indulgences]."


Deserves to be repeated, imo. Thanks.

Posted by: Mr Peabrain | February 28, 2007 06:24 PM

What the stupid anti-Gore neocraps do not understand it that purchasing carbon offsets helps to bring more green energy production on line. By purchasing offsets, Gore is actually paying to construct more pollution free energy producing windmills. Meanwhile, Bush/Cheney continue to commit genocide in their illegal imperialst war OF terror against the innocent Iraqis so the big oil companies can steal their oil and continue to destroy the world in a global warming catastrophe. Thank God the Democrats are now in power for a long time to come and will finally be able to stop the Bush/Cheney criminals from completely destroying the U.S. AL GORE 2008!

Posted by: KEVIN SCHMIDT, STERLING VA | February 28, 2007 06:30 PM

RePUBICans are mostly afraid, chickenhawks who worry about only one thing, the integration of America of humans who are not only just lily white, but the 'other' skin colors that make up the planet. Their way of life is crumbling underneath their feet, and while we've had the last six years controled by the infant-child idiot and darth vader revisited, they are desperatly trying to hold onto the last vestiges of the 'good old (white)boy' network that has suppressed the rest for centuries. As Mark above says, "you guys are fun to watch". I'm sure he'll have a good ole Texas bb-cue party, (no fire starter needed), in Hell!

Posted by: jpbreeze | February 28, 2007 06:34 PM

"No one has succinctly or credibly defended why the world's most prominent and noted speaker..."

Yes, yes, yes. Because not doing everything to combat something is exactly the same as doing nothing.

GW hasn't actually picked up a weapon and joined our soldiers on the front lines in Iraq so I guess that means he's pro-terrorism, right?

I'm no huge fan of Gore but to say this finding discounts all he's done in this area is small-minded and reeks of partisan politics, imo.

Posted by: Bruce | February 28, 2007 06:36 PM

Al Gore just won an Academy Award for his world wide hit, An Inconvenient Truth, and he is being drafted for President by a grass roots effort. That doesnt sound unpopular at all. Yes, the Kool-Aid keeps on pouring and the mud keeps on slinging down at the Bush Bar. dick Cheney says, free oil flavored Kool-Aid for everyone!

Posted by: KEVIN SCHMIDT, STERLING VA | February 28, 2007 06:37 PM

"Liberals are the biggest traitors this country has ever seen."

No, that would be Cheney and Bush, starting a war based on lies and killing hundreds of thousands in the most coldy calculated fashion this country has ever
seen. Worst. President. Ever.

And the sad thing is, it's CHENEY who's the real president.

"They pray for defeat in IRAQ just to jeer at Bush, they cheer when our markets go down becuase it might make Bush look bad,"

Are you on the same drugs as Rush Limbaugh? What a liar. You're also ignorant; the war in Iraq was lost BY BUSH long ago. Silly right wing whacko.

"they want the US to sign on to KYOTO and lose jobs but have no problem exempting Communist China and India."

Um, the Bushies have ALREADY caused everyone to lose jobs, or at least well-paying ones, while corporations make obscene profits, and our best blue and white collar jobs go offshore.

"Liberals are disgusting traitors and only feel good when trashing the US and protesting something."

Conservatives are disgusting traitors and only feel good when trampling on the Constitution, handing out tax breaks and taxpayer money to corporations, making sure the poor and disabled receive no government help, try to force women to give birth, are against sex education but are surprised when teens get pregnant, think that some adult fairy tale is the One True Born-Again Religion and everyone else is the anti-christ, could give a damn if corporations poison our environment, love it when a right-wing nutcase like Cheney gets us into useless wars against the wrong enemy, and laugh when regular Americans complain about our disappearing Constitutional rights.

Did I leave out anything?

Posted by: Steve | February 28, 2007 06:38 PM

Um...Al Gore is one of the owners and founders of the company from which he allegedly buys his carbon offsets. As a caveman like me might say: "Do a little more ree-search, OK?"

Posted by: Ogg of the Former Bear Cave | February 28, 2007 06:39 PM

>> KEVIN SCHMIDT, STERLING VA | February 28, 2007 06:30 PM
Whoa! Take a breath there Kevin. Your keyboard must be blazing hot after squeezing all those cliches into a single post.

I view Carbon Offsets and Gore's energy usage as separate items. I know it "feels good" to think that one offsets the other. But there's nothing wrong with him buying all the offsets he wants REGARDLESS of what his home energy use is. As I said in a (much) earlier post, his method is like buying someone else's SlimFast supply, and claiming their weight-loss as his own. The fact is, he's still an energy glutton.

[ btw - you hate us in Iraq, but I bet you supported Kosovo, and wish we were in Darfur ... am I right? Did you know that regime change in Iraq was adopted as US policy by the Clinton/Gore administration? Unfortunately, those two would rather talk about problems than actually do something about them (kinda like Gore and global warming, huh?) ]

Posted by: Mark | February 28, 2007 06:39 PM

Can't we all just get along? Al Gore is no saint--he is a man who has flaws like any other man. Nothing more, nothing less, and I think he'd be the first to agree. Why all the hatred from everybody? Everybody is either a "wingnut" or a "wacko liberal." I thought we were all just Americans. Everybody needs to open their minds and listen to everybody, and then form an opinion--not just hurl insults for the sake of being insulting. What has this country become?

Posted by: Tim | February 28, 2007 06:42 PM

Liberals are such a joke. I remember the first gulf war, the liberals tried to sell kuwait out and then acted glum when we beat the crap out of saddam. Rather than support freedom for the iraqis they would feel better if a homicidal maniac was still in power. Cowards to the bones.

Posted by: pATRICK | February 28, 2007 06:45 PM

Diseased journalism on the part of the Post,reporting one-sided accusations without analysis or proper context, under the guise of objective journalism. Fox would call it "fair and balanced".

Posted by: Jan Rodricks | February 28, 2007 06:45 PM

two things, three, actually.

1 - republicans live in glass houses about the wasteful use of electricity.

2 - one would assume that the gore home is both much larger and has much more going on in it than matt's house. having said that, i am not going to just accept this as gospel because drudge said it. you see, he has developed too partisan of a reputation to be seen as a reliable source... but having said THAT, i'm not going to look into it any further because i trust that gore is on the up and up. oo! doesn't it just burn ya, matty?

3 - even if al's house was on a neon-lit island in the middle of an acre-wide swimming pool heated to body temperature, the 'truth' he tells in the movie is exactly that, and important for everyone to hear. his alleged personal behavior does not change that even a little bit.

Posted by: meuphys | February 28, 2007 06:46 PM

Jimmy Carter was the worst president ever. Liberals never get it right. Their idea of a good president is a liar who cheats on his wife and stuffs cigars into young girls privates. That is about their moral plane.

Posted by: Wesley | February 28, 2007 06:49 PM

A comment from the other side of the Atlantic. I am surprised to read that the average American household consumption is "only" 11000 KwH. An article in a UK Newspaper ( The Independant ) quotes the average UK household comsumes 5200 KwH Electric and 33500 KwH Gas ie a total of 38700 KwH. It seems surprising that our UK domestic power consumption would be 3.5 times the American figure, when UK Carbon footprint is about 10 tonnes CO2 per year per citizen and US is 20 tonnes per CO2 per citizen ie US double UK. I'd be interested in any breakdown on gas versus electric in US households.

300 million Americans and 60 million Brits trying to make savings is what really matters!

Posted by: Bob Young | February 28, 2007 06:52 PM

Did I leave out anything?

Posted by: Steve | February 28, 2007 06:38 PM

Yes, common sense and the truth, but when has that ever been a concern of left wing america haters?

Posted by: pATRICK | February 28, 2007 06:57 PM

I love the fact that people are still crying over the fact that Gore couldn't steal the 2000 election.

Their bitterness makes me feel warm :)

Posted by: Hank Cat | February 28, 2007 06:59 PM

mark, pay attention. this will be on the quiz.

you say "you hate us in Iraq, but I bet you supported Kosovo, and wish we were in Darfur ... am I right?"

iraq was a war we began voluntarily, with president cheney knowing full well that the evidence that they had seen - and which we are just now seeing - didn't even come close to proving what they said it did

so they changed their tune, and it was suddenly all about establishing a beacon of freedom in the middle east. not going so well, is it?

and in kosovo, we were supported by the u.n. yes, i know that in iraq w. cobbled together a 'coalition of the witless.' how many committed more than a handful of troops? and what did the one nation that did just announce? (btw, due to the damaga this administration has done to american reputation / credibility, we'd have a harder time convincing even fiji to throw in with us.)

finally, darfur... a nation that needs help much worse than did iraq, but the international community has been scared away from intervention by bush's incompetence / ineffectiveness in iraq, while in the meantime we are more concerned with developing a pretext for war with iran.

i hope you're taking good notes, because this grade will go down on you permanent record.

Posted by: meuphys | February 28, 2007 07:00 PM

Bob Young,

Regarding the UK power consumption vs. the US, the US consumption might be lower due to geography. A good chunk of the US doesn't have to heat their homes constantly during winter.

Posted by: Hank Cat | February 28, 2007 07:03 PM

perhaps Mr. Gore is growing a large quantity of marijuana. it seems that the democrat party is making use of it lately.

Posted by: michael | February 28, 2007 07:03 PM

Liberals have no problem sending us into Darfur where we have no interests but can't stand the thought of helping the iraqis with whom we do have an interest. They like the idea of Darfur, it makes them feel so enlightened and compassionate. Besides it sounds good at moveon.org parties and impresses chicks.

Posted by: ANDREW | February 28, 2007 07:04 PM

"perhaps Mr. Gore is growing a large quantity of marijuana. it seems that the democrat party is making use of it lately."

As a conservative, I see nothing wrong with that -- as long as they share (and don't lip it)

Posted by: Hank Cat | February 28, 2007 07:06 PM

meuphys, you make me laugh. The "International community" can't even stomach keeping small numbers of troops in Afghanistan. The leftists in europe have sapped all will out those countries. They are worthless.

Posted by: WESLEY | February 28, 2007 07:07 PM

meuphys - not a history major, were you?

Kosovo was not an action run through the U.N. The military campaign was led by the US, and with the support of some NATO allies. The ongoing peace-keeping effort involves the U.N.

Have you read the text of the "Joint Resolution to Authorize the Use of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq" (that was overwhelmingly passed by the house & senate)? Clearly the willingness and desire of Saddam to obtain and use bio., chem., & nukes was a contributing and significant element, but there were many, many other, equally good reasons to remove him forcibly.

It is revisionist history to say that the administration knew "full well that the evidence that they had seen - and which we are just now seeing - didn't even come close to proving what they said it did". I recommend you read the final bi-partisan report that found no evidence of intelligence misuse or manipulation. In fact, CIA director (and Clinton appointee) George Tenet said it was a "slam dunk". Further, the house and senate intelligence committees saw the same evidence, and drew the same conclusions. Finally, the intelligence agencies of virtually EVERY nation had drawn the same conclusions about Saddam's intentions and capabilities.

Iraq is a mess right now. Every day that the liberal media and Democratic leaders talk about pulling out gives our enemies a bit of hope that they'll be victorious. It sickens me to read AP and Reuters copy that refers to those that kill and maim innocents as their key offensive strategy as "insurgents" or "militants". They are terrorists, and deserve condemnation from all corners of the globe.

When the world's leftists realize that defeating global terrorism is a more important goal than seeing George Bush and his policies fail, we will all be better off.

Posted by: Mark | February 28, 2007 07:26 PM

The analogy that carbon credits are like papal indulgences and the chorus of it appearing here is disturbing. The analogy is inaccurate for a number of reasons, the most important of which is that the Church did not do anything with the money whereas the carbon credits are used to plant trees, invest in clean technologies, or both.

Since they go toward productive, environmentally friendly activity, how can buying carbon credits be construed as bad?

While I strongly believe American consumerism is incompatible with long term survival (5% of global population can't consume 25% of finite global resources indefinitely), investment in cleaner technologies may provide a way for Americans to continue being gluttons without punishing the rest of the world for it.

Finally, if you have no plans to make sacrifices in terms of consumption, it only makes sense that you would want to figure out how to make your consumption sustainable. That is just as critical for people who don't believe in global warming (we are still talking about finite energy resources such as coal and oil) as it is for people who do. Which benefit you see as primary is your own choice.

Blind consumption of finite resources will inevitably bring about either extinction or large scale die back.

Posted by: Dan | February 28, 2007 07:29 PM

This is all Bush's fault.

By the way, I served in Vietnam and will soon get my honorary PhD. Not bad for a guy who averaged a C+ cumulative undergrad and flunked out of divinity and law school.

But I know where the science is and now I can claim it's peer-reviewed by Oscar and me. And please refer to me as Dr Gore going forward.

Posted by: Al Gore, PhD | February 28, 2007 07:31 PM

Why don't we just all buy carbon offset credits and sit back and see if any problems have been solved?
By the way, who might know where those are for sale? Everyone who ever bought a tree for Israel, is way ahead of the game it seems, that is why we have the Palestine forests that we see on TV.

Posted by: Sternberg | February 28, 2007 08:08 PM

The big election is two years away. It would be great if journalists would investigate their sources and check their facts before they publish them. If they had, it would have been clear that this was a clear partisan attack. The original article would also have quoted Gore and the readers would have gotten a balanced picture: The Gores use more energy than most households. The Gores use only power from green sources and they have installed solar. The result would have been to treat Gore fairly. For once. Couldn't we just try this for election coverage?

Posted by: julie kreutzer | February 28, 2007 08:09 PM

The big election is two years away. It would be great if journalists would investigate their sources and check their facts before they publish them. If they had, it would have been clear that this was a clear partisan attack. The original article would also have quoted Gore and the readers would have gotten a balanced picture: The Gores use more energy than most households. The Gores use only power from green sources and they have installed solar. The result would have been to treat Gore fairly. For once. Couldn't we just try this for election coverage?

Posted by: julie kreutzer | February 28, 2007 08:10 PM

It is a sad commentary on the population of this country when so little of what has been posted here is so poorly researched and based on emotion rather than fact. Have we lost the ability or the desire to tell the difference? Where is the discourse and consideration of the other point of view. Where is the tolerance of diversity of opinion? Where is the acceptance of the other persons freedom to be an as#%*&!. Ooops, lost a little tolernace myself. Ciao!

Posted by: 22ndtime | February 28, 2007 08:22 PM

If Al Gore had ever actually told people to quit using electricity, yes, then he would be a hypocrite. But if you read or listen to what he actually says, you will see that he advocates no such thing. Yes, let's conserve where we can, but what he is also advocating is a search for cleaner, more renewable and thus more PLENTIFUL sources of energy. But it is clearly not useful to Al Gore's political enemies to actually LISTEN to what he says. They feel it is better to just continue to paint environmentalists as 1) space-headed tree-huggers, 2) losers who just want to go live in a hut somewhere with no electricity, or 3) as hypocrites if they DON"T want to go live in a hut with no electricity. Serious renewable energy advocates like Al Gore are so far beyond all this dreary old-think. If people would just shut their pie holes for a few minutes and actually read about these new ideas, they might actually like what they see.

Posted by: hrklog | February 28, 2007 08:37 PM

Why should I be suprised that Howard Kurtz was part of the smear Al Gore campaign. I have written to him over the years that he is not a professional reporter. If he is not smearing Al Gore, it would be John Kerry. But his golden boys have messed up the government of the United States in the last 6 years. Yet, he seems to always almost having nothing negative to write about them. A Of course, he has a way of trying to be covert in his approach by attributing his opinions to other people. He has the title media affairs reporter. Hogwash! The guy does not know the meaning of journalism. He is at best a henchman in the media for the conservative outlets and think tanks like Drudge Report whose writer lives up to his name everyday - drudgery on whatever, Tennesse Center for Policy Research and the like. What is utmost sad is that Washington Post keeps on accomodating these neo con ideologues by the dozen - Charles K., George Will, Novak etc.

Posted by: midas20874 | February 28, 2007 08:50 PM

Right wing freak.

Not Drudge and Limbaugh...I expect garbage from them.

I mean YOU.

Posted by: bb | February 28, 2007 08:55 PM

The Post is a really crappy newspaper. Taking drudge and a made up public interest group seriously says a lot about the fall of this once proud publication.

Posted by: branfo4 | February 28, 2007 09:02 PM

Gore is a big phony. In other words, he`s a liberal.

Posted by: j.a.m. | February 28, 2007 09:07 PM

Bill Frist has an even bigger house down in Nashville. Anybody care to look into his electric bills?

Posted by: jimk8mr | February 28, 2007 09:26 PM

If you re-read Limbaugh's comment about Bush's "modest" home on the ranch, you may come to the same conclusion as me. Since when is 4000-square feet little? Gore may have a mansion, but Bush isn't living in a bungalow.

Posted by: | February 28, 2007 09:31 PM

Matt Ddrudge has absolutely no credibility. He is not a journalist, he is a right-wing propaganda-spewer. So why are you giving publicity and credence to such a person? Matt Drudge is a nobody. He is just having his fifteen minutes of infamy.

Posted by: | February 28, 2007 09:43 PM

Al Gore seems to be perfectly happy doing what he is doing. I don't believe he wants to run for Prez. Anyway, he is much more efective outside of government. Kudos to "The Inconvenient Truth", to the Oscar that his documentary received, and to the awakening of the world to a real threat! May he stay out of politics but follow the example of Jimmy Carter and work for the betterment of mankind and its living conditions.

Posted by: Devil's Advocate | February 28, 2007 09:50 PM

I don't really care how much electricity Al Gore uses - I'd like to know how a third party got hold of his electric bills (assuming that the figures cited are real). I guess if you're a conservative [sic], small-government type it is okay to go prying into other people's business, but if the Government did it they would all be up in arms. This whole thing could all be a case of so-called Internet Truth turning out not to be true.

Posted by: 66kicks | February 28, 2007 09:50 PM

The Drudge Report is such a vile compilation of rumors,innuendos, and plainly fabricated facts, that I am surprised anyone at Wapo takes that trash seriously. But of course, this is the WaPo that publishes lunatic rantings, without bothering to balance those articles with Op-Ed written by sane people.

Posted by: | February 28, 2007 09:55 PM

I think this country is doing really well, judging from the clarity of the commentary above. I'm sure everything will work out.

Dieu blessez America.

(Did I translate that far right?)

Posted by: Bill | February 28, 2007 09:56 PM

Oh the sweet smell of Republican FEAR. They lost in 2006, and they are going to lose worse in 2008. Not single viable candidate, no platform, no economic plan, no foreign policy. This is the desperate thrashing of failure and collapse.

Posted by: Burford Holly | February 28, 2007 10:10 PM

What the hell, I'm bored, so here's my worthless little two cents:

First: To "lain" you are definitely a perfect specimen of the Common Self-Important Loudmouth. You, like most mouth-breathers from the ultra-right (and ultra-left for that matter), apparently have nothing of actual value to add to a discussion.

You don't really think or care about the issues or discussion topic at hand; to you it is only a ticket to some cheap feeling of power you get by the outraged responses provoked by your name calling and insults.

Of course, you only get that little high if people actually respond to you, as I am doing now--so congratulations, I hope my response here refreshes your woefully underfed yet overinflated ego.

Now, having disposed of that creature, and admitting that although I believe what I say, I have no illusions about how much my opinion is worth in the grand scheme of things (i.e. not much), I will say that personally, I don't care what Al gore does at his house.

I don't care if his house uses all the energy put out by Hoover Dam. I care about this:

However he runs his house, no matter what his motives, that movie was a great step in moving things along towards addressing a serious issue that will increasingly affect not just the whole of the human race, but the global ecosystem.

So, I'm not goign to waste my time worrying about what he does at his house or discussing whether or not he's a hypocrite. Who cares? Is that an important issue? Seriously?

I will spend my time figuring out what I personally can do to improve my own carbon footprint.


So there :-)

Posted by: Bored | February 28, 2007 10:16 PM

You know, I'd never considered equating "leadership" with energy consumption. Only in the fantasy world of Drudge and the right wing is that a reasonable link to make. I'm constantly amazed with the inability of the Right to keep any focus on big issues.

I guarantee you that Rush and friends are not driving hybrids, but who cares! There are broader issues at stake, ones that the Republican Party had an opportunity to address yet utterly failed to do so.

Posted by: Brian W | February 28, 2007 10:22 PM

First, Al Gore did not invent the internet. Please, to anyone who still believes that, stop being the stereotype of ignorance. Second, does it even matter about Global Warming anymore? Republicans and Democrats, with the help of uncontrolled American corporate lobbying, will destroy not just our Union, but the world entire. So let's do what "Americans" do best: kick back, drink alcohol, watch football and movies, enter dishonest relationships with the opposite sex and have as many kids as we can-- EVEN if we can't afford it. Let's just wait for THE ULTIMATE WAR and, in theory, everything should be better after that. At least that's been the idea of every war in history: to be better afterwards. Can you smell the sarcasm people? At least God is waiting for me afterwards.

Posted by: Michael E | February 28, 2007 10:22 PM

Gore owns three properties, we keep only hearing about the ONE that is piggish. What about the other two? What about the TWO WORKING MINES on his Carthage Property?

Does the WaPo want to actually investigate and report, or repeat talking points and defend. What sort of journalism is this?

Posted by: Terf | February 28, 2007 10:39 PM

At least Al Gore has got us all thinking if all the hot air generated in this blog is anything to go by. One thing is for certain, we are all headed into the future and it ain't going to be easy, There is no doubt to those of us who live in the country and are getting older that there is a significant change in the climate. That is a fact whether we vote this way or that way and one our children are really going to have to deal with without the luxury of the arguing seen above.

Posted by: Donald | February 28, 2007 10:39 PM

This argument can end very quickly by looking at Al Gore's electric bills...DrudgeReport.com says that Al Gore's electric bill has increased...Al Gore says that he has reduced his carbon footprint, which means he lowered his electric bill in normal talk. So by just looking at his electric can tell who is on the up and up...

Posted by: Electric boy | February 28, 2007 10:41 PM

Why is WaPo giving Matt Drudge any exposuer? He is a right-wing shill who never has any problems with facts that get in the way of his ideology... WaPo is a rag.

Posted by: | February 28, 2007 10:54 PM

As far as it went I did have a pejorative reaciton to the reported Gore personal energy consumption data. Always interested in the other side of the story I read this WAPO editorial. Here I was introduced to something called a carbon energy footprint offset, and that this is Gore's exit plan on this rude, inconvenient story.

I shouldn't have to ask for this, but will the WAPO please do its homework, contact the Gore people and get/report the auditable facts about what "carbon offsets" were puchcased by Gore, when, from whom, for how much, etc. Then do the math and address the issue of whether these offsets 'zeroed' Gore out -- for as we all know, it would be Gore chump change. Until and unless these facts are developed, Gore is an indicted hypocrite.

Posted by: Indy | February 28, 2007 10:56 PM

Rush Limbaugh Lied when he said:
"Compare Gore's mansion and Bush's modest 4,000 square foot little house on a ranch in Crawford. Who is it that is actually walking the walk here when it comes to conserving energy? It is not Al Gore."
Does anybody believe Bush lives in a quaint little bungalo?
Listen to what JOHN F. DICKERSON Time Magazine WROTE:
" "The single-level home's 10,000 sq. ft.", AND A "A 10-acre man-made pond built and stocked with 5,000 bass has also been designed around the oak trees, and one oak sits at the tip of a little peninsula.", "The single-level home's 10,000 sq. ft.".
"When he (Bush) gets on one of his John Deere "Gators," a hybrid golf cart-tractor, and heads off into the brush"
AND Jacci Bear of About Austin.com WROTE:
"around 1600 acres", "The ranch property includes a creek, canyon, waterfalls, and meadows where cattle and deer graze." "Bush added a private fishing lake stocked with bass."
Rush Limbaugh is a conservative shock jock with no more journalistic integrity than Howard Stern. How often does Rush Limbaugh have to be proven wrong he's no longer quoted in "News Stories"?

Posted by: Nathan | February 28, 2007 11:01 PM

While the name DumocRAT was petty his comment is true. Dems have since the Civil War created segregation and propogated racist policies all through the south, kept african americans struggling and held down by promoting anti-family policies and keeping them on welfare generation after generation all to keep people to vote for them. All this under the guise of a government that "helps the poor and disenfranchised" 40 years in congress and nothing improved. More african Americans incarcerated under Clinton than at any point in history. The record speaks for itself. The dems are rich whites who exploit the poor to get in power. If we didn't have poor people, who would vote for them. So yes Al, let's all put more of a strain on our budgets to go green while you destroy the environment with your planes, limos, and gigantic house!

Posted by: HonestAbe | February 28, 2007 11:07 PM

So just where did these energy bills come from? Utilities are (supposed to be) very careful about not allowing this private information to be made available to unauthorized parties. The TN state utility regulators should be looking into how and why this information was released.

Maybe a grand jury would be in order to chase down the leaker........

Posted by: Greg T | February 28, 2007 11:19 PM

Amazing! Who defined "energy conservation" for these Republimorons? Did Al Gore start the war with Iraq? Does Al Gore waste millions in jet fuel flying around the country trying to drum up support for his illegal, unethical, immoral programs that, let's all say it together now, "that Congress has approved of, are completely legal and Constitutional, and reflect core American values"...all for political reasons, no less? What a bunch of idjuts. No but he uses oh let's go ahead and say 20 times as much power in his house as the average American household! Gee, that Al Gore is SUCH a hypocrite! Damm him for denying global warming not to mention a whole raft of scientific discoveries all these years!

Posted by: cc | February 28, 2007 11:47 PM

If Al Gore's house is four times the size of the average American house (one of the explanations given as to why he uses so much energy) why does he not practice what he preaches and just downsize his house?

People need to stop attacking Republicans and Democrats. Face it-they are ALL just alike. Just a bunch of liars taking advantage of the people they are suppose to serve.

Posted by: Monica | February 28, 2007 11:49 PM

Amazing! Who defined "energy conservation" for these Republimorons? Did Al Gore start the war with Iraq? Does Al Gore waste millions in jet fuel flying around the country trying to drum up support for his illegal, unethical, immoral programs that, let's all say it together now, "that Congress has approved of, are completely legal and Constitutional, and reflect core American values"...all for political reasons, no less? What a bunch of idjuts.

Posted by: cc | February 28, 2007 11:50 PM

"The analogy that carbon credits are like papal indulgences and the chorus of it appearing here is disturbing. The analogy is inaccurate for a number of reasons, the most important of which is that the Church did not do anything with the money whereas the carbon credits are used to plant trees, invest in clean technologies, or both. "

Actually, it is an almost perfect analogy. The Carbon Credits are promises to do things in the future, and like the promises some of the churches made, they most likely won't happen. Many of them rely on promising that land will remain undeveloped for centuries, a promise that almost no institution, let alone a small, underfunded private organization, can make. It's a "gorge today" "diet tomorrow" approach. Also, most of the technologies and the offset techniques are unproven, so there is no direct "one dollar in-one dollar out" result. It could easily be that one dollar of carbon credits results in one penny of carbon savings; not a sustainable approach. Even worse, there are a lot of questions about Gore's financial involvement with some of the companies selling these credits, not helped by the fact that he hasn't detailed how he supposedly offsets his consumption. Carbon credits are not a magic answer to our problems and are just no substitute for personal responsibility.

Posted by: Waste Less | March 1, 2007 12:15 AM

this is looking depressingly like a swift boating - both from the smear end, and the fumbling and late reply end. Why does Gore use so much electricity? Giant security system because he is the ex-Vice President? 24/7 security detail? Home office with a number of employees for himself for his work on Global Warming and the environment in general? Does his wife have an aide or two? Would all this add considerably to the "average utility bill"? Probably. Why the lame carbon-offsets stuff.

Posted by: Brian Anderson | March 1, 2007 03:44 AM

Carbon offsets are bogus?

Funny argument coming from people who's man in the White House has based his entire "Clean Air Act" on the same logic!

Posted by: Chuck | March 1, 2007 04:48 AM

"LOL... That's the funniest thing. Al Gore is full of it and the liberals and DumocRATs continue eat it up like they always do... Just ask Bill and Hillary. Even their liberal Hollywood supporters like David Geffin know that these people are full of ****! So why do they keep voting for them? Fools!"

Ha... The Consumeatives and Republickers eat up Matt's Dribbles like there is no tomorrow! Their backers like Kenny Boy Lay Convicted Fellon Abramhoff know they can buy the opinion of stupid poor hicks and live it up on our dollar. Just shoot me in the face!!

... ya gotta love politics in America...

Posted by: | March 1, 2007 06:37 AM

Picking up on a question I posted earlier I see one answer from Hank Cat who says that your US energy consumption is lower because you don't heat your homes as much as we do in the UK.

I had a sleepless night last night thinking we Brits are even worse than you guys at domestic CO2 emissions. We use 5200 KwH on electric and 33500 on gas ( average per household per year).

But this morning I worked out the solution for myself as nobody came back with some answers. Your newspapers report facts just as badly as our media! Reading FOX News and ABC News the implication was that Al Gore consumes 221,000 KwH for gas and electric. I say this because they report $29000 total spend and 221,000 KwH total energy. ( and the spend is Gas AND Electric ).

This morning I read between the lines of the reporting - and guess what - the 221 MWh is just for the electric. So I guess the average American household of 11,000 KwH is also just for electric. Now compared with the UK Electric of 5200 KwH we are less than half yours - not 3.5 times more.

If the ratio of Gas to Electric ie 33500/5200 in the UK is repeated in the States your average Gas consumption adds a further 71000 KwH so the average US household is 82000 KwH. More frighteningly is Al Gores would then be 1424 MWh for Gas which combined with 211 MWh for electric makes a grand total of 1635 MWh.

I guess I can sleep a lot easier tonight because the UK is less than half of USA but God help the World - I might need some sleeping pills!

If the preacher syas killing is a sin, and then kills someone - guess what killing still is a sin!

Get saving USA and save the World!

Posted by: Bob Young | March 1, 2007 07:31 AM

I don't waste energy. Why, because I am a Cheap Greedy Capitalist. I am not fat. Why, because I am a hard working, Cheap, Greedy Capitalist. Gore is a Fat Gluttonous Liberal Hypocrite. Greed is the Antithesis of Gluttony. You can't have your cake and eat it too. Greedy people like to have lots of cake. Gore eats lots of cake. Save the world by being a Cheap Greedy Capitalist.

Posted by: Mike C | March 1, 2007 07:31 AM

Al Gore did not build his "mansion" in Belle Meade. Someone should compare the energy that house uses to that of other houses in the neighborhood. I suspect that it is about average. Tennessee ran on cheap TVA power for decades.

Posted by: Don Thieme | March 1, 2007 07:46 AM

Al Gore is the consumate Democrat. HE can afford carbon offsets, so HE can afford to consume 20 times more energy than me. Not rich peons like me will suffer to make ends meet with the burden of MANDATORY carbon taxes and higher energy costs. Yes, I already cut back on travel, home heating, and electricity use. I do this to save money. The the regulatory freight train that is about to roll over the American middle class will do severe damage to MY economy.

Posted by: cssch2 | March 1, 2007 08:16 AM

This is the first time I've ever clicked on this blog before and probably the last. For the most part, the people who leave comments here from both the left and the right sound like a bunch of winey, immature children. Waste of time.

Posted by: Eric | March 1, 2007 09:14 AM

20X the average consumption?

Does the average family live in a registered historical home? Does the average family require 24/7 security protection? Does the average family require staff to accomplish their work? Is the average family willing to pay a premium for green energy?

Has Al Gore done everything reasonable to reduce his carbon footprint?

He flies commercial whenever possible. He drives a hybrid vehicle. He has made improvements to his home to reduce consumption.

What has Rush Limbaugh done to reduce his carbon footprint? Does Rush even consider it to be important?

Should historical residences be torn down and replaced with more energy efficient homes?

Posted by: Dick Tuck | March 1, 2007 09:18 AM

My third and probably last post (Hooray... you all say!)

Previously querying the accuracy of the implied figures....

Looks like US price for Natural gas about 3.4 cents per KwH ( 2001 anyway). So annual Gas Bill of $12732 is 373,048 KwH, and annual electric bill of $16308 is 220968 KwH. Total annual spend on Gas and Electric $29040, total energy consumption 594,016 KwH ( or 594 MWh). Phew no wonder the debate is so hot...

Excuse my obsession for detail, but I hate half a story.

Posted by: Bob Young | March 1, 2007 09:41 AM

Energy consumption has to do with CHOICES more than anything else. Nobody is FORCING Al Gore to live in a large home kept at some assuredly tightly controlled comfy temperature. Does he let the thermostat drop to 60 when it's cold out? Does he let it ride up into the 80's when it's hot out? Yeah - I'll bet.

Certainly historical or large homes/mansions don't have to be torn down, but that does not make them free from critique - particularly when someone making a second career out of the green message lives in one.

Certainly Al Gore can afford to build himself and his family a more energy efficient residence. Just as he can afford a hybrid vehicle and carbon offsets.

Posted by: Ed Zentera | March 1, 2007 10:11 AM

Rush Lamebaugh's silly comparison of "Gore's mansion" visavis Bush's "modest little ranch" is a perfect example of just how monumentally hypocritical this slob is. Anyone with even a pssing familiarity of the history of the two men know that they both come from priviledged backgrounds. But at the very least, Gore has committed himself to something that transcends his position of power and priviledge. What have Bush and Limbaugh done except to do everything in their power to extend the wealth, power and priviledge of the already wealthy. powerful and priviledged. Limbaugh's comical attempt to portray Bush as some poor, set upon little rancher just trying to do the right thing as a good steward of God's green earth is about as nauseating as you can get. Believe me, the last thing Limbaugh and Bush have any concern for is God's green earth. For them it representsn something to be exploited, pillaged, raped, plundered and left barren for the next generation. Bush and Limbaugh represent the very worst examples of humankind and qualify for a spot barely a notch above the worst plunderers and pillagers of the Dark Ages one can imagine.

Posted by: Jaxas | March 1, 2007 11:06 AM

One other point: The idea of Rush Limbaugh condemning someone who lives in a mansion is a hoot in and of itself. This fat, sour, unintelligent bloat has made a career defending people who live in mansions. How odd that he would condemn someone who lives in the sort of luxury he is accustomed to.

Posted by: Jaxas | March 1, 2007 11:14 AM

While this rant continues over 6,000 African children die of AIDS every day. Malaria is killing tens of thousands every year. People in the developing world do not have access to safe drinking water. People are starving. We should fix the problems we can right now. We can not throw away precious lives. Let's put our money and effort into solving the problems we can today. Please.

Posted by: Sadly | March 1, 2007 11:16 AM

"So yes Al, let's all put more of a strain on our budgets to go green while you destroy the environment with your planes, limos, and gigantic house!"

No single person destroys the environment. We all do, as a society. It's the collective effect of 300 MILLION Americans, and 7 BILLION people worldwide. And, apparently from the state of the discourse from folks like Drudge and the posters here, we'd rather bicker about Al Gore's lifestyle than worry about what's really happening to the environment. Clean air, clean water, and other natural resources are not democratic or republican issues. We all eat, breathe, drink. But, as I said, admitting to and facing a problem takes a backseat to backbiting.

Posted by: L.M. | March 1, 2007 11:30 AM

DRUDGE!!???..does anyone take him seriously?? I have never wasted my time with this idiot.

Posted by: VettMan | March 1, 2007 12:13 PM

"An Inconvenient Truth" is a docudrama that the left has adopted as a documentary. That is propaganda.

Posted by: JB | March 1, 2007 12:52 PM

I'm not willing to pay money above and beyond my utilities to offset my carbon imprint. It would be one thing if I paid more to directly use renewable energy in my home, but that's not what this carbon offsets plan is. Frankly I don't trust any company enough to just hand them money like that. I might invest in that company (different than just handing them money), but for now, I'd rather take that extra money and buy more energy efficient windows for my house or upgrade my appliances to energy star ones. Unlike Al Gore and other wealthy environmentalists, I don't have enough money to do both.

Posted by: | March 1, 2007 12:54 PM

First of all--the alleged think tank report was written by a guy formerly employed by the the American Enterprise Institute--hardly a non-partisan voice. Second, the Tennessee utility acknowledged that because of green technologies, the Gore's cost per kilowatt hour is 4X the cost to its other customers. Finally, with the carbon buyback program, Gore actually eliminates any environmental cost.
This is just an example of how much the right fears ANYONE bringing factual data to the debate on global warming--an issue they have tried mightly to smear and fudge for 25 years. As to any charge of "hypocrisy" by the right, one need look no further than this Administration's Clean Air initiative, which allows greater pollution, and its management of national forests to allow more logging as textbook Orwellian hypocrisy.

Posted by: dan | March 1, 2007 01:03 PM

One of the planks in the democratic platform calls for an equal or more equal distribution of wealth. The carbon trading scheme is designed to do just that. It will be more complex than out tax code by the time it is proposed.
I can only hope that it takes enough years for climate science to show that the whole philisophy is unrelaible at best. Then the man-made global warming scare will simply run out of hot air.

Posted by: Jeff Taylor | March 1, 2007 01:34 PM

You know, I was thinking that there is a perfectly good and likely explanation for Gore's electric bill. He's running all the servers for the Internet there.

Posted by: Mr Peabrain | March 1, 2007 01:41 PM

Al's true "Inconvenient Truth".

Posted by: Leyton Evans | March 1, 2007 02:41 PM

jon

I am not saying that polar ice caps (and other frozen areas such as Greenland - the name came from somewhere) that melt AGAIN would be a good thing, I am saying that it happened in the past without human activity and it is likely to happen again as a NATURAL cycle whether or not human stop all CO2 emissions. Also, it is interesting to note that CO2 levels were considrably higher 325 years ago than today and the Earth's temperature was also much higher then -- again, without SUVs and powerplants. And, as stated earlier, more and more attention is being given to the effect of the sun on temperatures -- explain Mars' increased temps with no CO2.

Posted by: jdri | March 1, 2007 02:45 PM

Dear Editorialist:

Re claim that "The Drudge Report is known mostly as a wildly popular online news outlet[.]"

No, it is instead a major part of the Right Wing Noise Machine, and frequent purveyor of unsubstantiated smears on Democrats and anyone not of the ultra conservative viewpoint.

Posted by: rosste | March 1, 2007 03:16 PM

It is always interesting to me that the liberal wing of the Democratic party has an inability to express viewpoints without childish namecalling. There are many, many top tier scientists that disagree with AlGore's position. As stated by my brother(Ph.D.-Physics-Northwestern), "If you drive a car, you are not an environmentalist." The "supporters" of the environment move farther and farther away from the central cores of the cities, do they realize all of the pollution that is going into the air from their automobiles? In the 1970's, these same individuals proclaimed that we were moving into the Ice Age, how did that prediction turn out?

Why would you ever accept the ideas of a crowd that has been wrong over the years, so many times?

Posted by: Joe | March 2, 2007 03:45 AM

I wonder how many left-wing think thanks are non-partisan?

Posted by: Joe | March 2, 2007 03:49 AM

The Left believes that fair and balanced means that they should own 98-99% of the media. For a group of people that treasures diversity, you seem to have a lack of tolerance for intellectul diversity. By the way, you might want to ask AL about his $500,000-$1,000,000.00 of stock in Occidential Petroleum. By the way, you could look into Uncle Ted Kennedy's shares of ownership in two oil companies, which took advantage of the poorest among us in relation to mineral rights contracts. Teddy did not want an alternative energy sources on his island, but, wants them for everyone else. Finally, the Kennedy family cheated the Chicago school district out of millions of tax dollars with trusts based in Fiji. Yes, Uncle Ted Kennedy did belong to a club(Owl Club) that did not allow the admittance of women at Harvard. So, the next time, you hear the Democrats whine, remember, their motto is, "Do as I say, not as I do."

Posted by: | March 2, 2007 04:00 AM

SOROS BUYS $ 62 MILLION DOLLARS WORTH OF HALLIBURTON STOCK....what's up haters?

Posted by: billclintoon | March 2, 2007 07:17 AM

"Convenient untruths" is more about algore's money grab by scaring young children and his avoidance of being honest.

Posted by: D H STACY | March 2, 2007 07:22 AM

Gore is growing weed in his basement! The amperage is consistent with commercial flower growers. He's snacking often too.

Posted by: Global Cooling then Global Warming Now | March 15, 2007 02:46 PM

it seems we need a "fact" priesthood that doesn't accept money or favors if that is even possible.

I find this blog embarassing as a citizen.
I see that being inundated with garbage is the first step in coopting the internet by the powerfull. You won't realize the simple and direct and good voices you have lost within all the mess.
The same thing happened with Radio, what a community service that could have been...but is now on automatic pilot.

But I guess I'm the hypocrite now...making more of a mess for people to wade through.

Here's a simple formula for all of you to follow to save you some typing time.

H is for hypocrite
M is for marijuana growing
S is for reliable source
N is for name called/calling
HSl is for slander under media hypnosis without any real critical thinking displayed
FA is for fat like America
R is for robbed
Le is for lies etc.
Rb is for robot lies that may not have been typed by a real person

I is for I give up scrolling through all this: give me one decent source ...maybe I should go try the Christian Science Monitor I vaguely remember them putting out an article that may have been trustworthy.

Blogs seem to be made to clog the search engines, good night and "good luck"
ironic sarcasm intended on the "good luck"

Posted by: choose anonymity | March 17, 2007 06:39 PM

So tell me why I should study sales

Posted by: BESTFORPAY | March 18, 2007 12:18 AM

global warming:can you say piltown man

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Posted by: lilidj | March 25, 2007 08:31 AM

Global Warming might indeed be taking place, but it would seem that what is truly happening here is the same, very old, story: It's all about MONEY! $$$$$$$

ANOTHER tax!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/31/AR2007033101040.html?nav=rss_politics

Heck, "they" are already trying to tax RAIN!!

http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=A0geu.fkQhFG1UkB3XhXNyoA?p=%22City+to+tax+rainwater%22&ei=UTF-8&fr=yfp-t-501&x=wrt

Global Warming is mostly about the SUN and NOT carbon. Moreover, carbon levels do not "cause" global warming, it is indicative of it.

We all exhale Carbon Dioxide; How long until "they" tax us all for breathing???

Here watch this video, and learn:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XttV2C6B8pU

It's all (and always) about the money!!! $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Posted by: RackAttack | April 2, 2007 01:56 PM

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