The Al Gore discussion, split from GOP/DEM

[mr_genius]

Al Gore is such a douche

 

" Last night, Al Gore’s global-warming documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, collected an Oscar for best documentary feature, but the Tennessee Center for Policy Research has found that Gore deserves a gold statue for hypocrisy.

 

Gore’s mansion, [20-room, eight-bathroom] located in the posh Belle Meade area of Nashville, consumes more electricity every month than the average American household uses in an entire year, according to the Nashville Electric Service (NES)."

[NorthSideSox72]

Al Gore is such a douche

 

" Last night, Al Gore’s global-warming documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, collected an Oscar for best documentary feature, but the Tennessee Center for Policy Research has found that Gore deserves a gold statue for hypocrisy.

 

Gore’s mansion, [20-room, eight-bathroom] located in the posh Belle Meade area of Nashville, consumes more electricity every month than the average American household uses in an entire year, according to the Nashville Electric Service (NES)."

Which, if I recall, they pay extra for because they choose a partial on alternative power. I don't have the link, but this was discussed a few months ago in here I believe.

[Balta1701]

Someone can point the GOP only side over here, I'm just tired of having to post updates there for now.

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.

Link.

 

Of course, Mr. Drudge doesn't bother to check whether or not Mr. Gore is purchasing CO2 credits from the international markets to offset what carbon he does generate by cutting into other outputs.

[kapkomet]

Is this sort of like buying your way into heaven?

 

 

(ok, that was tacky, but the point remains).

[mr_genius]

Which, if I recall, they pay extra for because they choose a partial on alternative power. I don't have the link, but this was discussed a few months ago in here I believe.

 

 

yea right

 

why are you defending him on this? he uses 20 times the amount of energy from the city as a normal citizen. that = big time pollution. if he wants to stand on his soap box and point his holier-than-though finger at everyone he might want to reconsider his lifestyle.

[Rex Kickass]

Why are "think tanks" looking for Al Gore's utility bills anyway? And why should anyone care?

[Rex Kickass]

I guess the question in my mind is who gives a damn what the man does in his own house? Could he be more energy efficient? Probably, but that doesn't mean that his message is wrong.

[FlaSoxxJim]

I guess the question in my mind is who gives a damn what the man does in his own house? Could he be more energy efficient? Probably, but that doesn't mean that his message is wrong.

 

And the other side of that is, who out of all of us is doing better at managing our own carbon footprints?

 

If we all thought about it and tried to take care of our own stewardship shortcomings we'd be in much better shape as a whole.

[southsider2k5]

Why are "think tanks" looking for Al Gore's utility bills anyway? And why should anyone care?

 

Why should we care? Are you serious? Why wouldn't we care? We get pounded with messages of hypcracy, especially with the members of the Christian right, and they are celebrated by people. We hear about people like Haggard, Swaggart, Bakker, and the like, and they are laughed at and made as examples of what happens when you don't live like you preach. Yet, Al Gore does the same type of thing, and I hear, so what. It reminds me of people slamming the Catholic Church for protecting child molestors, yet accoring to people just like Gore, whose activities are contributing to what according to him could be the destruction of human kind, and yet I am being told it doesn't matter? And don't give me the carbon credits crap, the destructive behavior has already been done. Its just like the priest/child molestor saying they confessed their sins, and asked for forgiveness. It doesn't change what has already been done, and it doesn't reverse their actions.

 

Seriously, I can't believe there isn't more outrage about this. Al Gore has no problem pointing his finger at any other person who fails his litmus test, yet here people are covering for him.

[kapkomet]

And the other side of that is, who out of all of us is doing better at managing our own carbon footprints?

 

If we all thought about it and tried to take care of our own stewardship shortcomings we'd be in much better shape as a whole.

The whole point is he is a hypocritical douche, and he's getting defended by the likes of you people. Carbon Credits is just a program to make him feel better about leading to HIS so called destruction of the earth - again, HIS definition, not mine.

 

Do I care what he does in his own house? Nope, until he tells me what I'm doing in my house is destroying the earth and he does the same damn thing.

[NorthSideSox72]

The whole point is he is a hypocritical douche, and he's getting defended by the likes of you people. Carbon Credits is just a program to make him feel better about leading to HIS so called destruction of the earth - again, HIS definition, not mine.

 

Do I care what he does in his own house? Nope, until he tells me what I'm doing in my house is destroying the earth and he does the same damn thing.

He DOESN'T do the same damn thing. This is what is amazing to me - people are falling for the B.S. like that Drudge report. As I said in that thread, and Balta reiterated with more specifics here, he's a lot more green than any of us (probably). He actually practices what he preaches. That makes him the opposite of hypocritical. In fact, if I'm honest with myself, I'm probably more of a hypocrite on this things because I have not more aggresively pursued those options.

[NorthSideSox72]

Why should we care? Are you serious? Why wouldn't we care? We get pounded with messages of hypcracy, especially with the members of the Christian right, and they are celebrated by people. We hear about people like Haggard, Swaggart, Bakker, and the like, and they are laughed at and made as examples of what happens when you don't live like you preach. Yet, Al Gore does the same type of thing, and I hear, so what. It reminds me of people slamming the Catholic Church for protecting child molestors, yet accoring to people just like Gore, whose activities are contributing to what according to him could be the destruction of human kind, and yet I am being told it doesn't matter? And don't give me the carbon credits crap, the destructive behavior has already been done. Its just like the priest/child molestor saying they confessed their sins, and asked for forgiveness. It doesn't change what has already been done, and it doesn't reverse their actions.

 

Seriously, I can't believe there isn't more outrage about this. Al Gore has no problem pointing his finger at any other person who fails his litmus test, yet here people are covering for him.

I think the point is being missed. I agree we should definitely care, if Gore is being a hypocrite. Except, he's not, according to the facts. He talks about reducing carbon footprint - and he does that. Like him or not, he's simply not being a hypocrite on this one. He's doing exactly what he should be.

[southsider2k5]

I think the point is being missed. I agree we should definitely care, if Gore is being a hypocrite. Except, he's not, according to the facts. He talks about reducing carbon footprint - and he does that. Like him or not, he's simply not being a hypocrite on this one. He's doing exactly what he should be.

 

No he's not at all. By purchasing carbon credits all he is doing is reducing the amount available IN AN OPTIONAL PROGRAM. For everyone else who doesn't follow those rules, it doesn't make a damned bit of difference. If they man were actually practicing what he preached he wouldn't own a gigantic energy wasting house. He would bulldose that house, plant a forest preserve, and live in a tiny little place that used as little energy as possible. But hey, he bought Carbon credits so everything is cool, right? Yeah I touched that boy, but hey, I prayed for forgiveness so its all cool. Just like people who rightfully look at people who want to stand up as authority figures on a subject, and preach to people how they should live their lives, people are going to be really interested to see that those people are more than accountable for their actions. Buying your pennance doesn't make a difference. Just because Al was lucky enough to have a grandpa who got rich in the oil business, so he can afford to make movies about things, doesn't mean he can buy his guiltfree sleep. At least not in my eyes.

[NorthSideSox72]

No he's not at all. By purchasing carbon credits all he is doing is reducing the amount available IN AN OPTIONAL PROGRAM. For everyone else who doesn't follow those rules, it doesn't make a damned bit of difference. If they man were actually practicing what he preached he wouldn't own a gigantic energy wasting house. He would bulldose that house, plant a forest preserve, and live in a tiny little place that used as little energy as possible. But hey, he bought Carbon credits so everything is cool, right? Yeah I touched that boy, but hey, I prayed for forgiveness so its all cool. Just like people who rightfully look at people who want to stand up as authority figures on a subject, and preach to people how they should live their lives, people are going to be really interested to see that those people are more than accountable for their actions. Buying your pennance doesn't make a difference. Just because Al was lucky enough to have a grandpa who got rich in the oil business, so he can afford to make movies about things, doesn't mean he can buy his guiltfree sleep. At least not in my eyes.

I certainly wouldn't say guilt-free, but I think he's doing what he should. Seriously, I think he's less of a hypocrite than most of us (on this subject). He isn't just buying credits either - he's buying energy from a different source. He's buying renewable energy. Could he have a smaller house? Sure. So could all of us.

 

Look, I like to think of myself as an environmentalist. I donate to the Nature Conservancy, recycle, drive a fuel-efficient car, donate my time to environmental causes on occasion, vote for open space and mass transit initiatives, and I even run a small NFP where we bring newbies out to the wilderness and teach them things like Leave No Trace. I feel pretty good about all of that. But Al Gore does all of those types of things, AND buys green energy (is that even possible with ComEd?), uses solar panels, etc., to reduce his energy footprint. I am pretty sure that puts him in a category beyond me and most people when it comes to environmental causes.

 

Hypocrite means not doing what you preach. He's no saint, but I'd say he's a pretty good parishoner in the church of the environment.

[Texsox]

I basically agree with SS2k5 in theory, but the specifics you mention would not be environmentally better. Bulldozing his house and replacing creates waste that is not 100% recyclable. That would have a negative impact. I don't think anyone has to live at the extremes to take a position. You could live in a smaller house, I could live in a smaller house, so does that mean we shouldn't be commenting on Al?

 

Finally, is his message damaging the environment? If his message helps our planet, why would you complain? If you were drowning and he arrived in a big fuel guzzling off shore racer, wasting all that fuel, would you tell him, you hypocrite, go away?

 

What we need is everyone to do a little, not a few to do a lot. I'm not going to ask you with a growing family to go live in a yurt and drive a hybrid. I'm not going to ask someone who worked hard, build a nice life to give up his Cadillac and summer home with a ski boat. But we all can do just a little in our current lives, nothing lifestyle, top of the mountain, changing. Just a few little things and we all win.

 

Perhaps we'll be better off if we start looking at the messages in our society and not just the messenger?

[southsider2k5]

The big difference between me and Al, is that I am not making movies about the end of the world and telling people to change their lives. If you want to stand up as an authority on ANYTHING, people are going to view and scrutinize you differently than anyone else. So far our society has decided that this is acceptable. We look at the messenger and the reason he is giving his message extensively. I hope you aren't saying we should just blindly accept whatever people tell us?

[Texsox]

The whole point is he is a hypocritical douche, and he's getting defended by the likes of you people. Carbon Credits is just a program to make him feel better about leading to HIS so called destruction of the earth - again, HIS definition, not mine.

 

Do I care what he does in his own house? Nope, until he tells me what I'm doing in my house is destroying the earth and he does the same damn thing.

 

Why does someone have to be at the extremes to have the moral authority to preach about a topic? Anyone short of Mother Theresa STFU about poverty, unless you have multiple PhDs STFU about education?

 

With the environment, we will never have everyone living in a yurt and riding bicycles. I don't want to take away the big car and ski boat from some guy who worked hard all his life to achieve that dream. But let's work to make that boat a little more fuel efficient and quiet. Let's make that car a little more space and fuel efficient. If I can learn to live with my house cooled to 78 instead of 72, I've helped. Why should I be called a hypocrite by someone who leaves their temp at 82?

 

And OK, for the sake of argument, Al's a hypocrite and terrible for the environment. Is his message inaccurate? Should we follow his example to ruin or his message to a better environment?

[kapkomet]

Why does someone have to be at the extremes to have the moral authority to preach about a topic? Anyone short of Mother Theresa STFU about poverty, unless you have multiple PhDs STFU about education?

 

With the environment, we will never have everyone living in a yurt and riding bicycles. I don't want to take away the big car and ski boat from some guy who worked hard all his life to achieve that dream. But let's work to make that boat a little more fuel efficient and quiet. Let's make that car a little more space and fuel efficient. If I can learn to live with my house cooled to 78 instead of 72, I've helped. Why should I be called a hypocrite by someone who leaves their temp at 82?

 

And OK, for the sake of argument, Al's a hypocrite and terrible for the environment. Is his message inaccurate? Should we follow his example to ruin or his message to a better environment?

You know why? Because Al Gore himself HAS been called the moral authority on this subject for years now by the likes of many even on this board. We then proceed to hear about how wrong we are, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. and then he flies his private jets all over the world as well as having a home that contributes to emitting more greenhouse gases then most of us will ever emit from our own homes, "green house" or not.

 

Then, we get the defense that he is purchasing "carbon credits" ... again, comparable to "buying (his) way into heaven" if you take the hyperbole. It's ridiculous.

[Texsox]

I hope you aren't saying we should just blindly accept whatever people tell us?

 

No, I'm not. But at the same time shouldn't the investigation be the message not the messenger? Would you rather follow wrong information from a guy living in a 300 sq foot home heated with all renewable resources or factual information from someone living in an 8,000 square foot home?

 

So, for the sake of discussion, whcih should we follow, your view of his message or his lifestyle? Which places us, you and me, on a better path?

[southsider2k5]

No, I'm not. But at the same time shouldn't the investigation be the message not the messenger? Would you rather follow wrong information from a guy living in a 300 sq foot home heated with all renewable resources or factual information from someone living in an 8,000 square foot home?

 

So, for the sake of discussion, whcih should we follow, your view of his message or his lifestyle? Which places us, you and me, on a better path?

 

Their are people walking out of the Catholic, and many other, churches for the exact same reasons of hypocracy... are they wrong?

[Texsox]

Their are people walking out of the Catholic, and many other, churches for the exact same reasons of hypocracy... are they wrong?

 

If they are walking out so they can abuse children they are wrong. If people are walking out on Al Gore's message so they can be a fuel hog, they are wrong too.

[southsider2k5]

If they are walking out so they can abuse children they are wrong. If people are walking out on Al Gore's message so they can be a fuel hog, they are wrong too.

 

How about if they refuse to listen simply because they view the messenger as a two face? That is the most common reason that people give now a days for leaving organized religion anymore.

[NorthSideSox72]

Pasted in the posts...

[Texsox]

How about if they refuse to listen simply because they view the messenger as a two face? That is the most common reason that people give now a days for leaving organized religion anymore.

 

If we are talking about religion if one rejects religious life because a pastor was exposed for his human errors, it is wrong, and they are only hurting themselves. Reject that pastor, but if he has been preaching love one another, be faithful, help the less fortunate, shall we reject those concepts as well?

 

Shall we argue that because some Doctors smoke and are overweight while telling us we should diet and excercise and quit smoking, should we all smoke, and over eat or should we diet and excercise?

[Texsox]

You know why? Because Al Gore himself HAS been called the moral authority on this subject for years now by the likes of many even on this board. We then proceed to hear about how wrong we are, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. and then he flies his private jets all over the world as well as having a home that contributes to emitting more greenhouse gases then most of us will ever emit from our own homes, "green house" or not.

 

Then, we get the defense that he is purchasing "carbon credits" ... again, comparable to "buying (his) way into heaven" if you take the hyperbole. It's ridiculous.

 

So f*** the environment because AL Gore does? I love the GOP