Always On: The Gore Power Switch

Posted by Mary Mancini on February 27, 2007 under Uncategorized |

The Always On series illustrates what we’d be talking about on any given day if we were on the air 5 days a week.

Shoddy research and partisanship seems to be the motivation behind the “non-partisan” Tennessee Center for Policy Research’s accusation that Al Gore is a “hypocrite.”

In today’s Tennessean, the Center’s president, Drew Johnson, says “As the spokesman of choice for the global warming movement, Al Gore has to be willing to walk (the) walk, not just talk the talk when it comes to home energy use.” The website for the group states that Gore’s “electrical consumption at home is more than 20 times the national average.”

What the group doesn’t say is that Gore is offsetting his energy consumption by purchsing blocks of “green power.” According to the Tennessean, the “green power Gore purchased in those three months is equivalent to recycling 2.48 million aluminum cans or 286,092 pounds of newspaper.” The Gore’s also drive a Lexis hybrid SUV and “use compact fluorescent light bulbs.” They are also “in the midst of a renovation project that includes having solar panels installed on their home to reduce fossil fuel consumption.”

One can safely assume that the Milton Freidman-loving Johnson is against any government action to combat global warming should it interfere with free market economic principles. But perhaps he should have read the news yesterday because it appears as if the market is catching up to Al Gore, science, and public opinion. Texas utility giant TXU announced a buyout offer by two private equity firms that includes scrapping plans to build 8 (out of 11) coal-fired power plants as well as increased efforts toward emission reductions.

And USA Today reports that Wall Street analysts are releasing report after report addressing what effect climate change will have on the investment landscape. Edward Kerschner, a strategist at Citigroup, “spent nine months researching Climatic Consequences, a 120-page report that zeroes in on 74 companies in 18 countries well-positioned to profit from changing weather patterns.” And both UBS and Lehman Brothers released their own reports addressing the same topic. Kerschner says, “The well-being of the planet, the report concludes, has gone from a ‘fringe concern’ of scientists and activists to a ‘central topic’ for CEOs and investors” and that interest in his report is “unprecedented” with presentations to clients “booked through the fall.”

Hurry up, Drew, the electric-powered train is leaving the station without you.

UPDATE: Tennessee Guerilla Women point us to Dave Johnson and James Boyce at the Huffington Post who report that The Tennessee Center For Policy Research is connected to Exxon and the right-wing American Enterprise Institute. Hrm. I guess Drew wasn’t left at the station since he had jumped on the hack train a long time ago.