Al Gore Under Fire For Huge Energy Consumption at Tennessee Home

Al Gore was the media darling at the Oscar's on Sunday night in Los Angeles.  He stood on stage with Leo DiCaprio as the two declared that Gore was a visionary and that the Academy Awards, with long lines of limousines waiting to collect the Hollywood elites, was going 'green.'  It was a good moment for Gore, he won the Oscar for best documentary for his film, 'An Inconvenient  Truth.' 

Al Gore Under Fire For Huge Energy Consumption at Tennessee Home

But the very next day the Tennessee Center for Policy Research, an independent, nonprofit and nonpartisan research organization, issued a press release of Al Gore's own inconvenient truth.  The pompous elitist apparently uses a lot of energy in one of the massive homes that he owns.

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The release concluded that Al Gore deserves a gold statue for hypocrisy and has the statistics to back it up.  Gore’s mansion, [20-room, eight-bathroom] located in the posh Belle Meade area of Nashville, consumes more electricity every month than the average American household uses in an entire year, according to the Nashville Electric Service (NES).

In his documentary, the former Vice President calls on Americans to conserve energy by reducing electricity consumption at home.  The average household in America consumes 10,656 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year, according to the Department of Energy. In 2006, Gore devoured nearly 221,000 kWh—more than 20 times the national average.

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Last August alone, Gore burned through 22,619 kWh—guzzling more than twice the electricity in one month than an average American family uses in an entire year. As a result of his energy consumption, Gore’s average monthly electric bill topped $1,359.

Since the release of An Inconvenient Truth, Gore’s energy consumption has increased from an average of 16,200 kWh per month in 2005, to 18,400 kWh per month in 2006.  Gore’s extravagant energy use does not stop at his electric bill. Natural gas bills for Gore’s mansion and guest house averaged $1,080 per month last year.

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“As the spokesman of choice for the global warming movement, Al Gore has to be willing to walk to walk, not just talk the talk, when it comes to home energy use,” said Tennessee Center for Policy Research President Drew Johnson.

In total, Gore paid nearly $30,000 in combined electricity and natural gas bills for his Nashville estate in 2006.

Gore could not dispute the findings of the group as they come directly from public records.  Kalee Kreider, a spokesperson for the Gores, instead pointed out that both Al and Tipper Gore work out of their home and she argued that "the bottom line is that every family has a different carbon footprint. And what Vice President Gore has asked is for families to calculate that footprint and take steps to reduce and offset it.  (And) they are in the midst of installing solar panels on their home, which will enable them to use less power," Kreider added. 

The think tank struck back:  "I appreciate the solar panels," the Center's 27-year-old president said, "but he also has natural gas lanterns in his yard, a heated pool, and an electric gate. While I appreciate that he's switching out some light bulbs, he is not living the lifestyle that he advocates."