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[off topic] Glass Houses

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LOOK OVER THE DESCRIPTIONS OF THE FOLLOWING TWO HOUSES AND SEE IF YOU CAN TELL WHICH BELONGS TO AN ENVIRONMENTALIST.

HOUSE # 1:

A 20-room mansion (not including 8 bathrooms) heated by natural gas. Add on a pool (and a pool house) and a separate guest house all heated by gas. In ONE MONTH ALONE this mansion consumes more energy than the average American household in an ENTIRE YEAR. The average bill for electricity and natural gas runs over $2,400.00 per month. In natural gas alone (which last time we checked was a fossil fuel), this property consumes more than 20 times the national average for an American home. This house is not in a northern or Midwestern “snow belt,” either. It’s in the South.

HOUSE # 2:

Designed by an architecture professor at a leading national university, this house incorporates every “green” feature current home construction can provide. The house contains only 4,000 square feet (4 bedrooms) and is nestled on arid high prairie in the American southwest. A central closet in the house holds geothermal heat pumps drawing ground water through pipes sunk 300 feet into the ground. The water (usually 67 degrees F.) heats the house in winter and cools it in summer. The system uses no fossil fuels such as oil or natural gas, and it consumes 25% of the electricity required for a conventional heating/cooling system. Rainwater from the roof is collected and funneled into a 25,000 gallon underground cistern. Wastewater from showers, sinks and toilets goes into underground purifying tanks and then into the cistern. The collected water then irrigates the land surrounding the house. Flowers and shrubs native to the area blend the property into the surrounding rural landscape.

For the surprising answer

HOUSE # 1 (20 room energy guzzling mansion) is outside of Nashville, Tennessee. It is the abode of that renowned environmentalist (and filmmaker) Al Gore.

HOUSE # 2 (model eco-friendly house) is on a ranch near Crawford, Texas. Also known as “the Texas White House,” it is the private residence of the President of the United States, George W. Bush.

So whose house is gentler on the environment? Yet another story you WON’T hear on CNN, CBS, ABC, NBC, MSNBC or read about in the New York Times or the Washington Post. Indeed, for Mr. Gore, it’s truly “an inconvenient truth.”

This is a chain letter that’s been making the rounds lately. Snopes investigated and determined it was true. Please visit Snopes.com for more detail.

Comments
It's too bad the "greenies" aren't more into green building. ;-)The Scubaredneck
April 2, 2007
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Well, I think it's pretty cool that Bush has a home like that. My husband is an architect and he designed a few green homes during college. He's really into that kind of stuff.Forthekids
April 2, 2007
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Sure Robo, done.Acquiesce
April 2, 2007
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FortheKids, This is actually not that suprising. Texas is one of the states leading the charge in "green building" techniques. For a good example, just go to www.thisoldhouse.com and check out the project house they just completed in Austin. I guarantee this house would rival any "green building" project in California. The ScubaredneckThe Scubaredneck
April 2, 2007
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Acquiesce, Can u send a copy to manawatu.apologetics@gmail.com?Robo
April 2, 2007
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I tend to believe that environmentalism is less of a ideology and more of a methodology. It's used by people like Al Gore to convince the public that they need a temporal savior. Al Gore to the rescue! This example is a stark contrast. Gore, telling the country that we need to make sacrifices, lives in a house reminiscent of an Arab sheik. George Bush, often criticized for his "lack of environmental awareness," has a modestly sized place with an environmental footprint smaller than if you lit a match. It's an April fools joke alright. April fools: Al Gore is an environmentalist. At least here in California we've got it all figured out: we're going to ban incandescent light bulbs. Saving the planet is so much fun.Apollos
April 2, 2007
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DaveScot I've just done a short interesting article about the venus flytrap and how it poses significant problems to orthodox darwinism. I dont think I can post entries. If you're interested maybe I can send you it or something? Thx - sorry off topic didn't know where to post this.Acquiesce
April 2, 2007
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Evidently no joke. http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=t&ie=UTF-8&rls=GFRC,GFRC:2006-49,GFRC:en&q=bush+ranch+greenDaveScot
April 2, 2007
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Is this for real or is it some kind of April Fool's joke? Nothing against Bush, but I'm having trouble imagining that he has a home like that.Forthekids
April 2, 2007
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