Tuesday, August 8, 2006
Al Gore's Hypocrisy Exposed
Al Gore insists the world must embrace a "carbon-neutral lifestyle" and make necessary sacrifices to head off what he warns will be an environmental cataclysm – but in his personal life he doesn’t practice what he preaches.
"Humanity is sitting on a ticking time bomb," warns the Web site for his global warming documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth.” "We have just 10 years to avert a major catastrophe that could send our entire planet into a tailspin."
Gore tells consumers how to change their lives to curb their carbon-gobbling ways: Switch to compact fluorescent light bulbs, use a clothesline, drive a hybrid, use renewable energy, dramatically cut back on consumption.
But "public records reveal that as Gore lectures Americans on excessive consumption, he and his wife Tipper live in two properties: a 10,000-square-foot, 20-room, eight-bathroom home in Nashville, and a 4,000-square-foot home in Arlington, Va. He also has a third home in Carthage, Tenn.,” Peter Schweizer, author of the book Do As I Say (Not As I Do): Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy,” writes in USA Today.
"For someone rallying the planet to pursue a path of extreme personal sacrifice, Gore requires little from himself.”
Gore doesn’t follow his own advice when it comes to energy consumption, either.
In the Washington, D.C., area, utility companies offer wind energy as an alternative to traditional energy, and similar programs exist in Nashville. Utility customers who pay a few extra pennies per kilowatt hour can take a big step toward a carbon-neutral lifestyle.
But according to public records, there is no evidence that Gore has signed up to use wind energy in either of his large residences, reveals Schweizer, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution.
"Talk about inconvenient truths.”
Gore claims to be environmentally friendly, but he hasn’t dumped his family's large stock holdings in Occidental (Oxy) Petroleum. As executor of his family's trust, over the years Gore has controlled hundreds of thousands of dollars in Oxy stock, while Oxy has been beset by controversy over oil drilling in ecologically sensitive areas.
Humanity might be "sitting on a ticking time bomb," but Gore's home in Carthage is sitting on a zinc mine.
Gore receives $20,000 a year in royalties from Pasminco Zinc, which operates a zinc concession on his property. Tennessee has cited the company for contaminating the nearby Caney Fork River with quantities of barium, iron and zinc.
"The issue here is not simply Gore's hypocrisy; it's a question of credibility,” Schweizer writes.
"If he genuinely believes the apocalyptic vision he has put forth, and calls for radical changes in the way other people live, why hasn't he made any radical change in his life? Giving up the zinc mine or one of his homes is not asking much, given that he wants the rest of us to radically change our lives.”
Al Gore insists the world must embrace a "carbon-neutral lifestyle" and make necessary sacrifices to head off what he warns will be an environmental cataclysm – but in his personal life he doesn’t practice what he preaches.
"Humanity is sitting on a ticking time bomb," warns the Web site for his global warming documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth.” "We have just 10 years to avert a major catastrophe that could send our entire planet into a tailspin."
Gore tells consumers how to change their lives to curb their carbon-gobbling ways: Switch to compact fluorescent light bulbs, use a clothesline, drive a hybrid, use renewable energy, dramatically cut back on consumption.
But "public records reveal that as Gore lectures Americans on excessive consumption, he and his wife Tipper live in two properties: a 10,000-square-foot, 20-room, eight-bathroom home in Nashville, and a 4,000-square-foot home in Arlington, Va. He also has a third home in Carthage, Tenn.,” Peter Schweizer, author of the book Do As I Say (Not As I Do): Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy,” writes in USA Today.
"For someone rallying the planet to pursue a path of extreme personal sacrifice, Gore requires little from himself.”
Gore doesn’t follow his own advice when it comes to energy consumption, either.
In the Washington, D.C., area, utility companies offer wind energy as an alternative to traditional energy, and similar programs exist in Nashville. Utility customers who pay a few extra pennies per kilowatt hour can take a big step toward a carbon-neutral lifestyle.
But according to public records, there is no evidence that Gore has signed up to use wind energy in either of his large residences, reveals Schweizer, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution.
"Talk about inconvenient truths.”
Gore claims to be environmentally friendly, but he hasn’t dumped his family's large stock holdings in Occidental (Oxy) Petroleum. As executor of his family's trust, over the years Gore has controlled hundreds of thousands of dollars in Oxy stock, while Oxy has been beset by controversy over oil drilling in ecologically sensitive areas.
Humanity might be "sitting on a ticking time bomb," but Gore's home in Carthage is sitting on a zinc mine.
Gore receives $20,000 a year in royalties from Pasminco Zinc, which operates a zinc concession on his property. Tennessee has cited the company for contaminating the nearby Caney Fork River with quantities of barium, iron and zinc.
"The issue here is not simply Gore's hypocrisy; it's a question of credibility,” Schweizer writes.
"If he genuinely believes the apocalyptic vision he has put forth, and calls for radical changes in the way other people live, why hasn't he made any radical change in his life? Giving up the zinc mine or one of his homes is not asking much, given that he wants the rest of us to radically change our lives.”
