Re: E-85

rexim, are you suggesting that we should unquestioningly accept public figures, politicians, and self-anointed spokespersons who talk the talk, but don't walk the walk? Are you suggesting that we should not set high standards for our politicians, public figures, and self-appointed spokespersons, and particularly, higher standards than we set for the general population, especially when these folks are held up as role models for the rest of us? Are you saying we should not point out the "feet of clay"? Since Gore is casting stones, are you saying he is "without sin"?

There is another saying - "Physician, heal thyself first"

The reality is that simply by being alive, every human being has an effect on the environment. Every human being exhales carbon dioxide and emits methane - it's part of the life process. When we walk, we leave footprints. When we ride our bikes, we are using natural resources, most of which are non-renewable (the steel, aluminum, or carbon fiber composite of the frame, the petroleum that went into the tires and plastic parts). When we drive the car to the mountains to go hiking, climbing, skiing, or just sitting around admiring the view, we add to our carbon footprint and use non-renewable resources (this holds for electric cars and hybrids as well as gasoline-powered cars). When we eat the food that nourishes us and simply keeps us alive, we are using the petroleum and other resources that got it to us, and ran all the machinery to grow, fertilize, de-pest, and process it (including the cans and plastic bags, as well as the wooden pallets that don't get re-used). Using the computer you are reading this on and the one I am writing this on, as well as all the servers of the internet consumes non-renewable resources in the plastics, metals that were mined (metal doesn't regenerate itself on this planet), and the coal, oil, and uranium in the nuclear power plants that was used to generate the electricity that propels the electrons carrying the information.

The idea here is to minimize our individual impacts. Each and every one of us has this responsibility to future generations. Yes, we all contribute more than we could to the problem. I already mentioned that I consume a lot in my many trips to the hills, and I am sure I could improve (not the least by canceling the far too many magazine subscriptions I have and reading the many books I read at the library instead of buying them).

rexim, I think your question is another example of, to quote you, "Can't a guy engage in a little hyperbole anymore?" It isn't a case of expecting perfection - no one is perfect, and as I said, every human has an impact just by being alive. It is rather that we have a right to expect that those exhorting us to do better (including me) to make a serious effort to reduce our impacts, most especially those who are held up as the role models and those who are acting as the public face of environmentalism. The problem with Gore is that his consumption is so far in excess of the average in the US, which in turn is far in excess of most of the rest of the world, while he is publicly calling for a solution. Remember, his house is consuming a full order of magnitude more resources than the average US household (and over 30 times my household).

My expectation is that, if he is to be the spokesperson, then his household consumption should be no greater than the average US household. Yes, I know, his house is 10,000 sq ft, and he has a large heated swimming pool with a pool house that is as large as the average US house. His usage is reported as 110,000 kw-hr per year in electricity alone (his natural gas usage is also way up there). If I scale my usage to his house size, he could be at 22,000 kw-hr per year, one fifth what it actually is. If I scale our Mississippi house usage (all electric, no gas), to his size house, just to have a similar climate where A/C was "necessary", I still get 66,000 kw-hr, 2/3 of what his electric alone is.

My problem is that he clearly has lots of fairly easy improvement available, while he is casting stones at the rest of the US. Buying carbon credits doesn't cut it - that just throws the burden onto someone else who was already working hard to do their part. That's just another version of NIMBY.