KalahariLog

We watched "Inconvenient Truth" at the Maru a Pula school the other night. The auditorium was packed and, predictably, most people loved the movie. It was good to see a politician be genuinely passionate about something. Towards the end of the movie comes the most useful part: what can we as individuals do" use compact fluorescents, turn the thermostat higher in the summer and lower in the winter, plant trees, recycle, etc.

What spoiled the movie for me was a story, posted on reddit a few days earlier, claiming that Gore's primary house is a 20-room mansion which consumes more electricity and natural gas in a month that the average american house does in a year. To be more precise, the Tennessee Center for Policy Research obtained Gore's electric bills which show 221,000 kilowatt-hours in 2006, more than 20 times the national average of 10,656 kilowatt-hours and that Gore's utilities bills total over $30,000 per year. To make matters worse, Bush's ranch in Texas is much smaller, uses geothermal heating and cooling, gray water collection, passive solar, etc. The story has been "verified" by snopes.com, whatever that's worth.

Al Gore quickly replied that he has signed up for 100% green power, is using compact fluorescent bulbs and has some solar panels. Moreover, he was purchased "carbon offsets" to bring his home's "carbon footprint" to 0. This is all fine, but it definitely is not sufficient and I can't help but agree with the critics that Gore comes of a bit hypocritical, Oscar and all. The world would likely be a better place had Gore been president in 2000-2004 but I am slightly saddened... carbon offset, my foot!

Here in Botswana, many houses have solar water heaters. They work really well 10 months of the year and in the remaining couple of months you might need to use the built electric heater. It seems like a great device for the US South-West but I have rarely seen them in Tucson; I'll definitely look for one when our current gas heater dies of old age, which will likely happen soon.