Bush house vs. Gore house-- anyone already get this email and address it?

[crispini]

Ok, since I'm lazy and I'm hoping someone ELSE has already done the work, has anyone gotten this email that's been making the rounds and addressed it? Thanks!

LOOK OVER THE DESCRIPTIONS OF THE FOLLOWING TWO HOUSES AND SEE IF YOU
CAN
TELL WHICH BELONGS TO AN ENVIRONMENTALIST.

HOUSE # 1:

A 20-room mansion (not including 8 bathrooms) heated by natural gas. Add
on
a pool (and a pool house) and a separate guest house all heated by gas.
In
ONE MONTH ALONE this mansion consumes more energy than the average
American
household in an ENTIRE YEAR. The average bill for electricity and
natural
gas runs over $2,400.00 per month. In natural gas alone (which last time
we
checked was a fossil fuel), this property consumes more than 20 times
the
national average for an American home. This house is not in a northern
or
Midwestern "snow belt," either. It's in the South.

HOUSE # 2:

Designed by an architecture professor at a leading national university,
this
house incorporates every "green" feature current home construction can
provide. The house contains only 4,000 square feet (4 bedrooms) and is
nestled on arid high prairie in the American southwest. A central closet
in
the house holds geothermal heat pumps drawing ground water through pipes
sunk 300 feet into the ground. The water (usually 67 degrees F.) heats
the
house in winter and cools it in summer. The system uses no fossil fuels
such
as oil or natural gas, and it consumes 25% of the electricity required
for a
conventional
heating/cooling system. Rainwater from the roof is collected and
funneled
into a 25,000 gallon underground cistern. Wastewater from showers, sinks
and
toilets goes into underground purifying tanks and then into the cistern.
The
collected water then irrigates the land surrounding the house. Flowers
and
shrubs native to the area blend the property into the surrounding rural
landscape.

HOUSE # 1 (20 room energy guzzling mansion) is outside of Nashville,
Tennessee. It is the abode of that renowned environmentalist (and
filmmaker)
Al Gore.

HOUSE # 2 (model eco-friendly house) is on a ranch near Crawford , Texas
...
Also known as "the Texas White House," it is the private residence of
the
President of the United States , George W. Bush.

[donheld]

1. Yes, when will the fools stop sending that crap?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=481095&mesg_id=481095

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=475364

[crispini]

3. Bless you!

:thumbsup:

[Kolesar]

2. I have a Calvinistic bent that makes it hard to appreciate Al Gore's home

A sense of humility on overdrive. Well, my car could be smaller, but I am quitting Sunday driving.

[5X]

4. The second house uses a septic tank and leach fields,

very common and not exactly state of the art.

[crispini]

7. Ha! Thanks!

[Vinca]

5. So the mystery remains.

If Shrub is so green, why has he sold the entire country down the river to companies who only worship the greenback??

[zbdent]

6. Send them back this:

"Let's look at Bush's v Gore's Vietnam records, since you are so interested in comparisons ..."

[crispini]

8. Here's what I put together if anybody else wants to use bits

- The Crawford ranch is not Bush's primary residence, but is exactly that, his SECOND home. That in and of itself already makes the comparison invalid, as Mr. Gore's home is not only a home, but is also his office. Both he and Tipper office there, have live-in security staff, and have other staffers who work there on a daily basis.

- Gore's electricity company has no record of being contacted about his bills. This part could very likely be fictional. Actually, I don't see any sources at all to legitimate news organizations or articles to back this stuff up, so ALL of it could be fictional -- who knows?

- The "average" home electricity use quoted by TCPR is a national average that includes apartments and mobile homes. In Gore's climatic zone, the East South Central (Dept. of Energy PDF), the average is much higher, thanks to hot, humid summers and cold winters. Within that zone, Gore's usage is three (not 20) times average, and his per-square-foot usage is squarely average. (More here.)

- Mr. Gore's home is an older home which is in the process of being retrofitted to be more environmentally friendly (he is adding solar panels, etc.) The Crawford ranch is new; it was constructed in the last 10 years. Generally speaking, most new homes have a very high environmental impact at the beginning of their life just because they are NEW and use up a lot resources in the construction process. It is possible to reduce this impact by adhering to certain standards during the construction, but we don't know whether or not this was done. Actually, probably not, as I happen to personally know the builder who did the first LEED-certified home in Texas; it's down the street from me and it just went up last week.

- Al Gore's overall point has nothing to do with overall energy use. It has to do with reducing overall carbon emissions. Al Gore purchases his electricity from a renewable source and offsets the rest with carbon credits, and is zero carbon, which is what he is asking all of us to do as well.

Finally, a nice point from the "Anonymous Liberal" blog:

"Suppose that tomorrow Al Gore decided to stop talking about global warming and start talking about bird flu. Suppose he came up with a new slide show that, among other things, advised people that they could help stop the spread of communicable diseases by always remembering to wash their hands. And suppose further that it was reported that Al Gore had been seen not washing his hands after going to the bathroom. Would that revelation, if true, have any bearing on the dangers of bird flu or the wisdom of washing your hands? If not, please explain to me how my hypothetical is any way logically distinguishable from the issue at hand."

[N_Jay]

9. Why so lazy? Google does all the work

This is what I found:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/bush/house.asp

[Uncle Joe]

10. I'm not sure when Bush's house was built, however Al's house

was originally built in 1915 and updated in 1995, so Al has taken an existing energy inefficient older home and is converting it to be more energy efficient.

[MasonJar]

11. Isn't Gore's house a family house from where he lived as a child?

I know that Al has done everything possible to cut down on the need to expend unnecessary energy. Old houses are tough to fix. Also I am almost positive that W did not have his house designed; didn't he buy it just before he ran for president? In any case their houses are irrelevant. The crucial question is, "Which man is trying to solve the world's global warming problems and which man is hiding/obfuscating them at every turn?