Further Refutation Of Al Gore’s Alleged Energy Guzzle

By Kleinheider Posted on June 18, 2008 at 7:54 am

Further response from Al Gore spokeswoman Kalee Kreider on the assertions of the Tennessee Center for Policy Research that despite rennovations Al Gore’s Belle Meade home is still guzzling energy at an alarming rate:

I am happy to provide more information about this from the Gores’ perspective. First, this release yesterday are a mere re-release of old bills. If any of you have ever worked with contractors, you know that renovations take years. The Gores renovated a 80 year old house from stem to stern. This took about 3 years to go through all the ducwork, to install a geothermal system, to replace all the windows, to put in solar panels (which used to be illegal in Bellemeade and took 6 months to reverse).

So, to be clear, the Gores’ achieved Gold LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification in November 2007. The reduction in the electricity and natural gas bills–you need to look at both in order to truly evaluate their carbon footprint, really kicked in in 2008. At that point, evaluating both, there is about a 40 percent reduction.

Their natural gas bill has seen the biggest reduction as a result of the geothermal system. For electricity, they purchase green power through their utility, which is called “Green Power Switch.” It isn’t an offset, any customer can purchase green power (solar, wind, methane gas) and its a wonderful program.

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Tags: Adam King, Al Gore, Belle Meade, Drew Johnson, Electric bills, Green, Hypocrite, Mansion, Nashville, Tennessee, Tennessee Center For Policy Research, Trent Seibert  

Renovating The Image: Gore’s House Steady Guzzlin’

By Kleinheider Posted on June 17, 2008 at 3:26 pm

The boys over at the Tennessee Center For Policy Research celebrates a over a year of dining out over exposing Al Gore’s electric bills by exposing that, after extensive renovations, the house still consumes an inordinate amount of electricity:

After the Tennessee Center for Policy Research exposed Gore’s massive home energy use, the former Vice President scurried to make his home more energy-efficient. Despite adding solar panels, installing a geothermal system, replacing existing light bulbs with more efficient models, and overhauling the home’s windows and ductwork, Gore now consumes more electricity than before the “green” overhaul.

Since taking steps to make his home more environmentally-friendly last June, Gore devours an average of 17,768 kWh per month –1,638 kWh more energy per month than before the renovations – at a cost of $16,533. By comparison, the average American household consumes 11,040 kWh in an entire year, according to the Energy Information Administration.

UPDATE 6:15: Gore spokeswoman Kalee Kreider takes issue with the TCPR release:

Kreider pointed out that the renovations weren’t complete until November, so it’s a bit early to be attempting before-and-after comparisons. In addition, the Gores participate in the Nashville Electric Service’s Green Power Switch Program, which allows them to buy their electricity from renewable sources like wind power, solar power or methane gas from landfills (the house’s 33 solar panels only supply 4 percent of its power needs, per Kreider.) So any energy they burn won’t be burning them a bigger carbon footprint.

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Tennessean

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Tags: Adam King, Al Gore, Belle Meade, Drew Johnson, Electric bills, Green, Hyprocite, Mansion, Nashville, Tennessee, Tennessee Center For Policy Research, Trent Seibert