A tale of two houses - An inconvenient truth :eek:

[haraldo]

A Tale of Two Houses

House #1

A 20 room mansion (not including 8 bathrooms) heated by natural gas. Add a pool (and a pool house) and a separate guest house, all heated by gas. In one month this residence consumes more energy than the average American household does in a year. The average bill for electricity and natural gas runs over $2400 per month. In natural gas alone, this property consumes more than 20 times the national average for an American home. This house is not situated in a Northern or Midwestern 'snow belt' area. It's in the South.


House #2

Designed by an architecture professor at a leading national university. This house incorporates every 'green' feature current home construction can provide. The house is 4000 square feet (4 bedrooms) and is nestled on a high prairie in the American southwest. A central closet in the house holds geothermal heat-pumps drawing ground water through pipes sunk 300 feet into the ground.

The water (usually 67 degrees F) heats the house in the winter and cools it in the summer The system uses no fossil fuels such as oil or natural gas and it consumes 1/4 the electricity required for a conventional heating/cooling system. Rainwater from the roof is collected and funneled into a 25,000 gallon underground cistern. Wastewater from showers, sinks and toilets goes into underground purifying tanks and then into the cistern. The collected water then irrigates the land surrounding the house. Surrounding flowers and shrubs native to the area enable the property to blend into the surrounding rural landscape. The heating/cooling system is so efficient that initial plans to install solar panels were cancelled.



HOUSE #1 is outside of Nashville, Tennessee.
It is the abode of the environmentalist, Al Gore.


HOUSE #2 is on a ranch near Crawford , Texas.
It is the residence of former President of the United States , George W. Bush.

Yes, it’s “an inconvenient truth..”

And yes ... I DID check Snopes prior to forwarding it.


You can verify it yourself at :http://www.snopes.com/politics/bush/house.asp

 

[MidnightSensi]

Haha, but Gore's defense is he buys "carbon credits." ... which is both a bullsh*t concept and, also, one of his businesses.

If I build a home one day I want to do all that green stuff just because its cool, having an efficient house that can sustain itself. Pretty cool, even if I think the global warming thing is overblown.

 

[jwenthold99]

That is a most inconvenient truth! I love it, but I can't stand Al Gore, so that helps

 

[pzaur]

I wish I could go off grid...

-pat

 

[jwenthold99]

I wish I could go off grid...

-pat

That would be nice...

 

[zhimbo]

Well, you should also read this Snopes article:

"Al Gore's Energy Use"

The comparison you give is technically correct, but deeply misleading and disingenuous.

Al Gore's home, besides being an actual residence, is a workplace/office for 2 adults, has a security detail nearly year round, and is actually in one of the worst climate regions for energy use (large swings in temperature over the course of the year). In fact, according to Snopes, the Gore home's usage is "comparable to that of other homes in the same area". Also, "average" residence includes 1 person dwellings, houses that sit empty during the day while the occupants are at work, etc., so the comparison to an "average" dwelling is hardly appropriate.

Bush's (former, now sold) Crawford "ranch" is a vacation place/political prop. He actually lived in the White House, and at no point was "the ranch" his primary residence. It was bought just prior to his first campaign for President.

 

[MUDSHARK]

Is that the house where the internet was invented?

 

[zhimbo]

Is that the house where the internet was invented?

A myth, incidentally: Snopes "Internet of Lies"

 

[lsiberian]

It Figures. Global Warming should be addressed and shouldn't be a political fight. We need to follow the Bush's example.

 

[gmichael]

A myth, incidentally: Snopes "Internet of Lies"

Right. What he said was, "I took the initiative in creating the internet."

 

[zhimbo]

Right. What he said was, "I took the initiative in creating the internet."

Which he, in fact, did. Single handedly, no, but he was probably the most important person in Washington to play a role. Read the Snopes link for details.

 

[gmichael]

Which he, in fact, did. Single handedly, no, but he was probably the most important person in Washington to play a role. Read the Snopes link for details.

That would be like giving Nixon credit for the space shuttles.

 

[MDS]

The internet was 'created' around 1969 although it was a DARPA research project and just a few nodes. The internet wasn't commercialized (ie fully available to the masses) until the late '90s.

Al Gore is often misquoted but what he meant was that he pushed for funding and support to help it grow and become the useful tool that it is today.

 

[zhimbo]

That would be like giving Nixon credit for the space shuttles.

Gore did more - he was the mover and shaker in Washington to develop the internet. Again, read the Snopes article for details. Nixon merely gave the go-ahead on the shuttle.

 

[gmichael]

Gore did more - he was the mover and shaker in Washington to develop the internet. Again, read the Snopes article for details. Nixon merely gave the go-ahead on the shuttle.

You could check NASA's site for this: http://history.nasa.gov/stsnixon.htm

I still remember this.

 

[gmichael]

You could check NASA's site for this: http://history.nasa.gov/stsnixon.htm

I still remember this.

Or you could go back 3 years for this: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/reference/basics/history/index.html

 

[mtrycrafts]

The internet was 'created' around 1969 although it was a DARPA research project and just a few nodes. The internet wasn't commercialized (ie fully available to the masses) until the late '90s.

Al Gore is often misquoted but what he meant was that he pushed for funding and support to help it grow and become the useful tool that it is today.

I think that is exactly what was in his interview that was so grossly distorted
"I took the initiative in creating the internet."

 

[mtrycrafts]

http://www.snopes.com/politics/bush/house.asp[/url]

And, what a tale it is

 

[lsiberian]

In the year of woodstock, the first rock album, and the lunar landing who woud have thought the most important achievement in human history was done by a few nerds at Stanford.


40 years later and we are on here because of them. I was so happy to be alone in my little world and those punks decades before I was born put in motion events that would lead to my addiction to this forum.

I should take them to court.

 

[Adam]

...the most important achievement in human history...

Indoor plumbing was pretty great, too.