Ok, so the right wing can't let Gore have a few minutes of glory without leveling an unsubstantiated vicious attack from a group of nobody hillbillies about a matter that is relatively inconsequential (kilowatts per hour). And Gore's (the left's) response is typically pin-headed, nuanced and boring.
So, for the Gore folks who should know this already, here is what you say:
"Our research indicates that the energy consumption of the Gore's house in Nashville is right in line with similar structures of its size in the area. This is just another vicious attack from a shadowy right-wing aligned group on the man who the people voted to be President back in 2000. The attack has no credence. Why the global warming deniers of the Republican party can't allow the former Vice President to enjoy the Oscar spotlight for 15 seconds is beyond us."
In addition, since the AP buried this in their article:
"The think tank said Gore used nearly 221,000 kilowatt hours last year and that his average monthly electric bill was $1,359. Johnson said his group got its figures from Nashville Electric Service.
But electric company spokeswoman Laurie Parker said the utility never got a request from the policy center and never provided them with any information."
the Gore folks could have prefaced the whole response with:
"We have no idea where these people got these numbers. The Nashville Electirc Service never provided them with these figures. "
http://news.yahoo.com/...
For the record, here is what Gore's office droned on about to thinkprogress.org, (extra-points to anyone who reads to its final, boring conclusion). I'm suprised they didn't provide footnotes, charts and diagrams as well.
- Gore’s family has taken numerous steps to reduce the carbon footprint of their private residence, including signing up for 100 percent green power through Green Power Switch, installing solar panels, and using compact fluorescent bulbs and other energy saving technology.
- Gore has had a consistent position of purchasing carbon offsets to offset the family’s carbon footprint — a concept the right-wing fails to understand. Gore’s office explains:
What Mr. Gore has asked is that every family calculate their carbon footprint and try to reduce it as much as possible. Once they have done so, he then advocates that they purchase offsets, as the Gore’s do, to bring their footprint down to zero.