First: Yes, I believe the human race played a role in our Earths health, and I also believe it is just part of our natural cycle. I do not pick sides here because I believe both sides are true.
Some say that Al Gores documentary is just pure propaganda. I personally do not believe that is a propaganda conspiracy. I do believe it is simply "his side of the story." Al Gore has been accused of energy hypocrisy, and maybe he is not as bad as the media makes him out to be. I also think he is 100% committed the the cause, but not 100% prepared for the media hounds. (not yet)...
What have you done to help with cleaning up/preserve our environment?
You might recycle, and you may have bought an electric car. You might be using solar heating along with planting trees. What about taking a step further and start spending even more of your earned income on becoming more active such as in community events and/or work with local scientists to come up with better solutions for your home or community? How about the added expense of using the substitute Green Energy? My point is that its not as easy as some of these finger pointers make it out to be.
How innocent are we? Lets look at wind powered energy. The fact is at the end of 2006, worldwide capacity of wind-powered generators was 74,223 megawatts although it currently produces less than 1% of world-wide electricity use. If we were innocent that percentage would higher. It is basically non-existent!
Most can fib and get away with it. Al Gore simply cannot get away with it due to the fact his public and private life is being reviewed daily by thousands of reporters across the world. So we have to ask ourselves is he a full blown hypocrite? I am not going to be quick and point a finger just yet. Why? because he has done more then I have! I cannot sit here and be a hypocrite myself.
The media reports that Al Gore consumes more electricity every month than the average American household uses in an entire year. Yes, Gore paid nearly $30,000 in combined electricity and natural gas bills for his estate in 2006, but who is to say that the report is not missing any details to purposely start media fire or cater to a specific agenda.
What some may not be reporting is that he actually pays a bit more because he does subset his energy costs with green power. As of recently he reports that he is going 100% green power by installing solar panels, and using compact fluorescent bulbs and other energy saving technology. My personal opinion is that this should have been put in place prior to his documentary release to have prevented the whistle blowing event. Some are saying it was due to the availability of the resources.
I will have to agree that his lavish lifestyle does have a much more negative effect on our environment, and I am not denying that. He does use large cars, and he flies frequently. What I am doing is questioning our quickness to point fingers when we ourselves are not doing as much as he is or has been doing.
He asks us to reduce our energy footprints, but there's only a finite amount of alternative energy available to us, and many cannot afford to take a bigger step of installing solar panels or buying an electric car.
I am not a serious Al Gore supporter, but what I am saying is that he has done a hell of a lot more then most people that will read this and at least works with those that are working on solutions. He is an important voice out there while we sit in our homes nice and cool or warm during the cold and hot seasons.
As for Al Gores own personal usage. I only know what I read and what the media reports. What I can consider is that both him and his wife WORK and LIVE inside their large home. This includes added usage from employees and office systems along with daily life usage. If you were running a 4,000 square foot building as a home and with office buildings I am almost certain your usage would be even more then what his is. Media reports that he has and still is putting green energy into action within his home and business. Therefore, he may actually be using LESS energy, cumulatively.
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