Take notes. A pop quiz is in your future.
Which house 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 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.
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.
Future quiz subject: If you are using carbon offsets to love Mother Earth, will Mother Earth like your lovin if she knows you're using a bait and switch on her?
