Much That Is Hidden

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Oh gawd has it been sweltering in the sultry southern states. We've had triple digits the past several days, and no rain in sight. It's neither a good time to be a farmer nor a farm animal. While my tolerance for my native northern cold has become totally wussified, my fortitude against the southern dog days has improved little if at all. I feel like Pvt. Jerome in Biloxi Blues - "Man it's hot. It's like Africa hot. Tarzan couldn't take this kind of hot."

Well here's fun little story for you. About a month ago our central a/c went kaput. We sent for a man to come peruse the situation and he determined that we had a "porous coil," and since the unit was 11 years old, both the inside and outside units needed to be replaced because all new equipment is on a higher efficiency rating. I was inclined to feel like I did when I took my first car in (1973 Chevy Nova Hatchback) for an oil leak and the mechanic said, "Weeell, you might need a whole new car..." without a trace of sarcasm in his drawl. Anyway, we called for a second opinion and upon inspection of the outside unit No. 2 says, "That's a big old hole in the side there." Porous indeed - it looked like it had been attacked with a hatchet. No. 2 confirmed the "whole new car" theory and backed it up with a quote of only $4,850, tax included. I asked him if the hole looked like mechanical failure. "None that I've ever seen," was his reply. So near as I can figure some neighbor punk came around whilst we were away or Mr. No. 1 was trying to upgrade his service call.

Long story shortened: homeowner's insurance say "okey-dokey," and after three weeks of no central air (we borrowed a couple of window units that barely staved off insanity) we're in the cucumber business once more.
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Labels: global warming, heat, Holy Crap, homeowner, madness, The South

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I got a kick out of this post by Big Shot Bob in Texas, which begins:

Fresh off his Oscar victory last night for Best Documentary, Al Gore has been stripped of his title by the U.S. Supreme Court. George W. Bush was declared the new winner despite the fact that he had not received a single vote or even watched a movie in the last decade except for Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ.

In the Court's opinion, new Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that he was proud to follow in the steps of his old boss and predecessor, the late William Rehnquist, who helped decide Bush v. Gore in 2000. "You've gotta love lifetime appointments," Roberts said. "We aren't even trying anymore!"

Funny stuff, Bob. But in all seriousness (which seems strange to say considering how ridiculous the following situation is), the Oscar win by An Inconvenient Truth has predictably struck a nerve. Charges of hypocrisy have been off-leveled against the former veep for the energy consumption in his Nashville mansion (read more). Well it's a classic example of the old adage that Lie can get himself halfway around the globe before Truth even gets his shoes tied. How convenient for the Hannitys and the Limbaughs and other comets-will-kill-us-firsters that the Tennessee Center for Policy Research (a "nonpartisan" think tank) is on the scene.

However, David Roberts, staff writer for online environmental magazine Grist.org, points out that the Tennessee Department of Revenue doesn't even consider the TCPR a legitimate group. They are part of the right's State Policy Network, which according to People For The American Way (which makes no pretense of being nonpartisan, thank you Jesus), "is a national network of state-based right-wing organizations in 37 states as well as prominent nationwide right-wing organizations. Through its network SPN advances the public policy ideas of the expansive right-wing political movement on the state and local level." HuffPo declares TCPR president Drew Johnson comes from the Exxon-funded American Enterprise Institute and the right-wing-funded National Taxpayers Foundation.

"It's run by a long-time right-wing attack hack, and its only registered address is a P.O. box," says Roberts of TCPR. "Why is everyone in the media taking what it says about Gore's electricity use at face value?"

Some other points pondered:

• I wonder if any Republicans in Gore's neighborhood have outrageous power bills? It's nice to see the conservative media taking the message of conservation and energy efficiency seriously. Hopefully they will hold their own leaders and readers to the same high standards.

• I find it intriguing that Gore's electricity company has no record of being contacted about his bills.

• The "average" home electricity use quoted by TCPR is a national average that includes apartments and mobile homes. In Gore's climatic zone, designated East South Central by the U.S. Department of Energy, the average is much higher, thanks to hot, humid summers and cold winters. Within that zone, Gore's usage is three times average, not 20 as the TCPR contends, and his per-square-foot usage is squarely average.

• The Gores are not an average family. He's an ex-VP with special security arrangements, and has live-in security staff. He and his wife both work on their many business and charitable undertakings out of their house, so they have space for offices and office staff. All that would be tough to cram in an average size house.

• Gore buys the maximum allowable green electricity from the program offered by the Tennessee Valley Authority.

• Most of the electricity in Tennessee comes from hydro and nuclear, and so doesn't generate all that much CO2 anyway.

I don't think Gore is going to shrink from this at all. He already responded to Matt Drudge's predictable foaming. I'm a supporter of him getting the Nobel Peace Prize (sure to further chagrin the right and possibly get them to simmer a tad) for his heroic work. I totally agree with David Roberts on a point that doesn't make for good lather in Fox's mouth, but is nonetheless true: "He has prompted more individual and collective action on this issue than anyone else alive. The changes he has wrought outweigh his personal carbon emissions by many orders of magnitude."

Labels: comets, global warming, politix