Posted on 03/03/2007 6:52:00 AM PST by kellynla
Al Gore defends his extraordinary personal energy usage by telling critics he maintains a "carbon neutral" lifestyle by buying "carbon offsets," but the company that receives his payments turns out to be partly owned and chaired by the former vice president himself.
Gore has built a "green money-making machine capable of eventually generating billions of dollars for investors, including himself, but he set it up so that the average Joe can't afford to play on Gore's terms," writes blogger Dan Riehl.
Gore has described the lifestyle he and his wife Tipper live as "carbon neutral," meaning he tries to offset any energy usage, including plane flights and car trips, by "purchasing verifiable reductions in CO2 elsewhere."
But it turns out he pays for his extra-large carbon footprint through Generation Investment Management, a London-based company with offices in Washington, D.C., for which he serves as chairman. The company was established to take financial advantage of new technologies and solutions related to combating "global warming," reports blogger Bill Hobbs.
(Story continues below)
Generation Investment Management's U.S. branch is headed by a former Gore staffer and fund-raiser, Peter S. Knight, who once was the target of probes by the Federal Election Commission and the Department of Justice.
Hobbs points out Gore stands to make a lot of money from his promotion of the alleged "global warming" threat, which is disputed by many mainstream scientists.
"In other words, he 'buys' his 'carbon offsets' from himself, through a transaction designed to boost his own investments and return a profit to himself," Hobbs writes. "To be blunt, Gore doesn't buy 'carbon offsets' through Generation Investment Management – he buys stocks."
As WND reported, Gore, whose film warning of a coming cataclysm due to man-made "global warming" won two Oscars, has a mansion in the posh Belle Meade area of Nashville that consumes more electricity every month than the average American household uses in an entire year, according to the Tennessee Center for Policy Research, citing data from the Nashville Electric Service.
The think tanks says since the release of Gore's film, the former presidential candidate's energy consumption has increased from an average of 16,200 kilowatt-hours per month in 2005, to 18,400 per month in 2006.
I see income in it too.
I have 35 acres with probably 7500+ trees on it. Last year alone I planted 75 new trees, plan to do that every year or so. Now........where do I cash in??
(I'm actually a little more than half serious)
Stunning how foolish liberals are. Even if you really could reduce your carbon footprint by paying someone to do it, this is the ultimate in arrogance.
He simply shells out money so he can live like a king and assuage his guilt.
He needs to go live in a cave in the woods.
It's probably any number of other renewable resources, and perhaps even a "green certificate"
bump
There's a certain drama queen around here who goes hysterical if anyone uses a Wikipedia link :-)
Anyway -- mark for later read.
But I'm still thinking it is a money making scam, because he's getting an electric bill just like you and I are, which means, his house is tied into the same electric grid our houses are tied into.
What I mentioned to you last nite.
that's an investment firm and it doesn't list the stocks they invest in
Wiki does have it's useful purposes. :) Occasionally I'll get a mp3 music file that doesn't have the ID3 (artist/title/album/year) tag on it, and have manually added that as I acquire music now and again, and makes sorting my vast music library much easier. :)
Right, that's Al Bore's "carbon neutral" shelter.
Somebody needs to shove a green pie in Al Gore's fat face.
I asked this the other day and I got some help from jellybean and mrsmith. Maybe they can help again today, as this concept seems "too big" (or too stupid) for me to wrap my brain around.
For something to be a carbon "offset", it's not enough that it emits no carbon. It must absorb the carbon that was emitted elsewhere. Solar panels, windmills and biofuels don't do that.
And believe it or not, even planting trees won't do that. Their breathing in CO2 happens during the daytime; they breathe it out at night, and whatever carbon they manage to store during their lifetimes is released back to the envrionment when they die. The net effect on carbon: zero.
I'm not an enviro wacko in the least.
However, in order to save on my utilty and gas costs (saving energy is a bonus) I do the following:
Drive a small, reasonably priced good gas mileage car.
Keep my thermostat at a lower temp (winter) and higher (summer).
Dry my clothing on hangers either inside or outside (how I WISH I could have an old fashioned clothes line out back but my complex won't allow it).
Do my shopping on my end of town and don't run all over the place.
BTW thats one thing that I've YET to hear an enviro wacko promote - outside clothes lines! They never, ever mention giving up their beloved dryers. (And yes I do use my dryer for linens but would glad (and have done so in the past) hung them outside to dry.
You have to get a load of this!!!
And I still want to know what the HELL he is doing in a 10,000 square foot home that requires over $3,000 a year in electricity.
Oh, now you've got me thinking about how line laundry smells! And sounds!
That's $30,000/year in electricity, isn't it?
I know he heats his pool and his driveway is lined with gaslights. He probably keeps those lit 24/7 to remind him of the eternal flame. LOL
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