Conservatives and ID theorists alike are having a riot with the report released yesterday from the Tennessee Center for Policy Research that shows how Al Gore's Tennessee mansion uses more electricity in one month than the average American home consumes in a year.

In his documentary, the former Vice President calls on Americans to conserve energy by reducing electricity consumption at home.

 

The average household in America consumes 10,656 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year, according to the Department of Energy. In 2006, Gore devoured nearly 221,000 kWh—more than 20 times the national average.

 This is terribly funny, though for Mr. Gore it may turn out to be more inconvenient than his own film purports to be.  (According to DaveScot at Uncommon Descent, Gore took a private jet from his Nashville estate to pick up his Sunday Oscar for his documentary An Inconvenient Truth, burning thousands of gallons of fossil fuel in the process.)  All this gas guzzling certainly makes Al Gore look like a hypocrite.  This is one of the world's biggest spokespersons for consuming less energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and look as his utility bill.

 In an interview with National Geographic News just three months ago, Gore said he has "decided to become carbon neutral, which means we reduce CO2 to the maximum and then purchase offsets to offset the remainder with reductions in CO2 elsewhere."  And around the house?  Said Gore:

Well, we've changed the lightbulbs to the more efficient kind [compact fluorescent, or CFL, lightbulbs] and switched to a hybrid [vehicle], and we use clock thermostats, and we're installing solar panels.

Fluorescent bulbs? Solar panels?  It sounds as if these ideas had been only recently implemented at the time of the November interview (in fact, the panels weren't up yet).  So maybe the "energy savings" that should result from these steps weren't in effect when Gore paid November's $1,359 electric bill (average monthly figure for 2006) for his Nashville mansion.  At least we hope not.  CFL bulbs are supposed to use a quarter as much electricity as incandescents, a therefore cost a quarter as much to run.

Considering how much Mr. Gore spends on utilities--$30,000 last year--it's no wonder he's put some thought into cutting back the wattage and natural gas.  Here are Gore's energy saving recommendations to the average joe:

Just to take a few quick examples of easy steps; buy the new [CFL] lightbulbs. They're much more efficient; you don't have to change them nearly as often. They use much less electricity, and they save you money on your utility bills.

Consider a clock thermostat, and set it so that you're not using energy when you don't need it, when you're out of your house.

 Apparently Mr. Gore needs energy whether he's out of his house or not.  Did Tennessee get a lot of snow last year?

 Actually, it really doesn't bother me how much power Mr. Gore consumes.  I'm not judgmental.  Gore pays for his electricity, and he uses a lot because he's a productive man.  That's capitalism in action, and I applaud it everywhere.

But . . . as long as Mr. Gore has a right to be productive--why not everyone else?

CFL bulb image from Wikipedia.