Green Comparison

My husband often reads American Thinker, a blog that is published and edited by Thomas Lifson and whose “About Us” section contains this description, quoting directly from the website:

American Thinker is a daily Internet publication devoted to the thoughtful exploration of issues of importance to Americans. Contributors are accomplished in fields beyond journalism and animated to write for the general public out of concern for the complex and morally significant questions on the national agenda.

There is no limit to the topics appearing on American Thinker. National security in all its dimensions, strategic, economic, diplomatic, and military is emphasized. The right to exist and the survival of the State of Israel are of great importance to us. Business, science, technology, medicine, management, and economics in their practical and ethical dimensions are also emphasized, as is the state of American culture.

I don’t frequent American Thinker; it isn’t that I lack enthusiasm for their writing, I just lack the requisite number of hours in my day to read yet another blog. Instead, I rely on my hubby to forward articles I may find interesting. This is one such article. I received it late last night. In short, it compares the environmental footprint of two different American houses.

The first home is located in Tennessee:

- twenty-room mansion heated by natural gas
- pool, pool house, & separate guest house, all heated by natural gas
- average electricity & natural gas bill: $2400+
- natural gas use: 20 times national average for average American home
- physical footprint: 4 times the size of average new American home
- electricity consumption: 12 times average home in Tennessee
- monthly energy consumption exceeds annual energy consumption of average home

The second home is in Texas:

- four bedroom house with only 4000 square feet
- geothermal heat pumps use ground water to heat & cool the house
- geothermal heating system uses NO fossil fuel
- rainwater & household wastewater is purified & used for irrigation
- native flora surrounds the home

Can you guess who owns these properties? If you answered Al Gore and George Bush, respectively, you would be correct. Apparently, Mr. Gore compensates for the excessive energy footprint of his mansion by purchasing “carbon offsets” from someone whose home consumes less energy. Hmm…someone like George?

So much for environmental awareness.