Al Gore’s Mansion Problem: Big, Fat, Hairy Deal.
By Dennis Sanders | Related entries in Environment
I am not a fan of Al Gore.
I think he is a pompous jackass and none to good of a campaigner since he was the second in command to popular president and somehow managed to not win the 2000 election handily.
That said, I do commend the former Vice President for his work on global warming. He has been a committed environmentalist forever and hopefully, his documentary, “An Inconvienent Truth” will get more people interested in try to less the impact of climate change.
Having said all this, I think the current tempest in a teapot about Gore’s mansion and all those Hollywood liberals jumping into limos and living in large house is full of….well, this is a family blog so I will simply say it’s a bunch of malarkey.
Why you say? Well, maybe playing to sterotype as a gay man, I like to watch HGTV, the home improvement channel. What I find interesting is how many people in our country want houses with large master bedrooms, master baths (with two sinks), large kitchens with the latest high-end appliances and media rooms. I remember on one show a single woman bought a 4300 sq foot home for herself and her dog.
Cleaning that house has to be sheer hell.
The point of the matter is this, I don’t think that Gore should be castigated because he lives in a big house. If that’s the case then we better start pointing fingers at all those people who live in “McMansions” in the suburbs or who are tearing down old houses in the cities to be replaced by the McMansion’s urban counterpart.
Yes, Mr. Gore probably should be living in a smaller house. I mean, all of his kids are grown and how often does he live there? But the fact is, Gore could live in a some hovel or go all Messiah like and just live where he can and his critics would still make fun of him. Why? Because they don’t believe in global warming.
The organization that is making a stink about Gore’s house also has doubts on the who phenomenon of climate change. So, are they really raising a legitamate issue or are they just trying to prove their point that climate change isn’t a major issue?
Second, Mr. Gore isn’t the only person living in a house that is bigger than what he needs. Many Americans seem to think we need to have a large house to fit our lifestyles when we could do with a lot less. My partner and I are looking for a home. We are looking for a place that will fit his grand piano. We aren’t looking for a 5000 sq. foot home, but a modest home between 1000 and 1500 square feet. That’s more than enough for the two of us and our two cats. If we are going to start pointing fingers, we need to point them at more places than a liberal windbag.
Finally, there is this. Mr. Gore does deserve criticism for something related to climate change, but it isn’t about living in a big house. The thing is, for eight years he had access to one of the world’s most powerful people and for some odd reason, global warming didn’t get much attention when Gore was in office. THAT to me is something people should be asking. But our friends in Tennessee wouldn’t ask that question, because then it means that they would have to acknowledge global warming and then they would have to do something about it.
So, let’s lay off Mr. Gore on the house, shall we? It’s a big non-issue and we have bigger things to worry about.
This entry was posted on Friday, March 2nd, 2007 and is filed under Environment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
March 2nd, 2007 at 11:18 pm
Mr. Gore’s hypocrasy is a non-issue to whatever degree hypocrasy is a non-issue. He has set himself to have his “carbon footprint” examined and I am surprised he has taken more caution to make that footprint smaller given the passion of his existence.
March 3rd, 2007 at 12:53 am
When these rich neocons start living down to the standard they expect Gore to, then they have the right to criticize. Until then, it is definitely a non issue. At least he is putting his time & effort into a cause he believes is right. The critics can’t do that safely since their top value is the bottom line or the top ratings, no matter the consequences for others. It makes much better press coverage to attack Gore.
I have never been a big time political figure or advocate. My best SWAG would be he is living in a house of a size appropriate to entertain groups of supporters, donors, or political allies who can further the cause. After all the flack he has received, perhaps he will learn to take a closer look at the footprint he leaves behind. And if he does, rest assured none of us will hear a peep from the news media.
March 3rd, 2007 at 3:30 pm
Rich neocons don’t go around telling people to live in smaller houses and reduce their electricity. Gore does.
March 3rd, 2007 at 7:41 pm
My understanding was that Vice President Gore wasn’t being criticized for having large house energy bills, it was that his energy usage in the same house went up after he began his crusade against global warming. A big house will use more energy, however if you believe in protecting the earth you should work to lower your energy usage reguardless of the size house you live in. Compact floresence lights, better insulation, set the thermostat lower, ect. Increasing your energy usage while preaching the evils of global warming is just plain dumb.
March 4th, 2007 at 2:46 pm
I think this is an important issue. The high priest of the environmental religion has been caught with his pants down. What’d he say – CO2 global warming is the most important MORAL issue of our time? And he’s not walking the talk. That’s just pathetic.
He’s getting the same just reward as the TV preacher who falls from grace. And the environmental movement is suffering the same black eye as Christians do when the big preacher falls. Not that I agree with those consequences, but that’s how it works. True believers will not be swayed anyway.
What I’m waiting to see is if the enviromental movement will act in the same “moral” manner as Christians do when the big guy falls and take him out of the leadership position.
December 10th, 2007 at 10:40 am
So how does him buying carbon offsets change the fact he’s putting a whole lot of CO2 into the air. His “offsets” are simply paying for the privelege to pollute while at the same time telling us poorer folks we should lower our living standard. In the end he is just a hypocrit because he is adding CO2. Where does his offsets come from? From the rest of who are a lot poorer than he is.