Bush vs. Gore: Eco-friendly Homes

Global Warming is once again in the news.  You can Google the latest, if you'd like.  I thought that, in response, I'd like to post an excerpt from Snopes.com regarding the e-mails you may have seen floating around alleging that the Crawford, Texas ranch of George W. Bush is more eco-friendly than the home of Global Warming profiteer, Al Gore.

Here is the web address.

According to the Associated Press, the Gore's 10,000 square foot Belle Meade residence consumes electricity at a rate of about 12 times the average for a typical house in Nashville.  While there are mitigating factors, this is still a surprising number, given that the residence is approximately four times the size of the average new American home.

The Prairie Chapel Ranch home owned by George W. Bush in Crawford, Texas was designed by Austin architect David Heymann.... and is a model of environmental rectitude.  Geothermal heat pumps ... circulate water through pipes buried 300 feet deep in the ground where the temperature is a constant 67 degrees; the water heats the house in the winter and cools it in the summer.... A 25,000 gallon underground cistern collects rainwater gathered from roof runs... The water is used to irrigate the landscaping surrounding the four-bedroom home....By marketplace standards, the house is startlingly small... Constructed from local limestone, the house has eight rooms in a long, narrow design to take advantage of views and breezes....

Al Gore would like the government to force you and I to be more energy efficient.  But he does not want to practice what he preaches.