Posted on 04/21/2004 8:45:14 AM PDT by kattracks
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry and his mega-rich wife Teresa Heinz own a gas guzzling private jet, an energy-eating power yacht, have five mansions that consume thousands of gallons of oil to heat and cool - and keep a fleet of SUVs running night-and-day outside their Beacon Hill mansion.
But that didn't stop Sen. Kerry from blasting President Bush's environmental record yesterday.
"Being responsible about the environment is not some goo-goo, do-gooder, silly notion that you embrace once a year on Earth Day," railed Kerry to a Florida crowd. "It's important to life itself."
Really?
It doesn't seem particularly important to the Heinz Kerrys, whose Gulfstream V private jet gobbles up thousands of gallons of jet fuel annually. Dubbed the "Flying Squirrel" by Teresa, this $35 million gas guzzler features a plasma TV, two bathrooms, fancy mahogany and burlwood paneling and gold-plated fixtures, according to Boston radio talker Howie Carr.
So far reporters have had little to say about the contrast between Sen. Kerry's staunch environmentalism, along with his wife's decision to turn the Heinz family endowment into a green crusade - and the would-be first family's energy-wasting lifestyle.
It's not a pretty picture. In fact, the Heinz Kerrys burn through so much gas, oil and electricity that their personal energy consumption would probably put a significant dent in the Alaskan oil reserve - that is, if Sen. Kerry and his environmental buddies ever dropped their opposition to drilling ANWR.
Take the top Democrat's $800,000 yacht "The Scaramouche." The Kerry campaign has yet to release figures on how much marine fuel this beaut eats up just to keep the Massachusetts Democrat sailing in style. But it must cost a bundle.
And the Heinz Kerrys don't seem to be particularly big fans of that old environmental slogan, "Think Globally, Act Locally." Their neighbors in Beacon Hill, for instance, have been grumbling lately about the fleet of Secret Service SUVs the candidate and his wife keep out in front of their palatial digs - with engines running 24-hours a day.
"One resident complained she couldn't sleep with the exhaust," reports the Boston Herald, "so the Secret Service agreed to move the vehicle away from her bedroom window from 10 p.m. to 5:30 a.m."
Of course, the Heinz Kerrys' Beacon Hill mansion is just one a five palatial residences the would-be first couple maintains around the country, in addition to digs in Nantucket, Georgetown, Idaho and Pittsburgh - each one churning through oodles of energy just to keep temperatures comfortable should John and Teresa decide to drop in.
Not too shabby for the ketchup heiress and her hubby - who, by the way, actually met at a 1992 Global Warming conference in Rio de Janeiro. No doubt John and Teresa nodded in agreement as the Rio conferees condemned the U.S. as an energy-hogging environmental outlaw.
President and Mrs Bush walk the walk. Their ranch is a model of energy and eco-friendly technology. It is an ongoing project, everything from replanting native grasses and wildflowers to thinning out the cedar trees that absorb so much of the water needed for native hardwood trees. Conserving water is critical in the dry, hot area around Crawford. Their home has a geo-thermal heating and cooling system that uses about 25% of the energy that traditional heating/AC systems require, rainwater and household wastewater are reused for irrigation. Their architect said they wanted the house to be unpretentious, straightforward, simple and to fit into the landscape. He said the low-slung, natural limestone house is the setting for people they want to be with, they didn't want a house to be looked at, but to be enjoyed.
She doesn't object to the name because she interprets "run" to be a verb...
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