Al Gore's oscar earns him accolades from the German media. Left wing daily Sueddeutsche compares him favorably to ...well, you guessed it...George W. Bush. If only Al Gore had run the country in the last couple of years...
Germany's enthusiasm for strict environmental policies of the Gore/IPCC type stands in marked contrast to the economic risks the country faces if such policies are implemented:
The big-car problem
Germany produces some of the fastest and most luxurious cars in the world, but is that yesterday's game?
EARLIER this month Germany's carmakers were hit by new emission limits proposed by the European Commission. There were howls of protest, not least from Angela Merkel, the German chancellor. So the proposed ceiling was raised a little, to 130 grams of CO2 per kilometre to be met by 2012. This still left the makers of many of the world's most prestigious cars with the most work: in the European Union only six German-made models meet the target, but 34 of those made by competitors do. Moreover, of all the cars on sale in Germany which pump out more than 200g of CO2 per kilometre, most are German. (...) This is not a happy state of affairs for a country that likes to lead the way on the environment. Nor does it bode well for Germany's biggest industry, which employs one in seven of the country's manufacturing workforce. (Source)
Germany will solve the conflict between domestic gas guzzler production and global environmental concerns in a simple, traditional way: politics and media will pay lip services to the environment and will blame the U.S. for not signing Kyoto, while the automobile industry will serve worldwide demand for high powered luxury cars.
The two-faced nature of German politics has served the country well in many areas...
Are you sure???
"Gore’s mansion, [20-room, eight-bathroom] located in the posh Belle Meade area of Nashville, consumes more electricity every month than the average American household uses in an entire year, according to the Nashville Electric Service (NES).
In his documentary, the former Vice President calls on Americans to conserve energy by reducing electricity consumption at home.
The average household in America consumes 10,656 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year, according to the Department of Energy. In 2006, Gore devoured nearly 221,000 kWh—more than 20 times the national average.
Last August alone, Gore burned through 22,619 kWh—guzzling more than twice the electricity in one month than an average American family uses in an entire year. As a result of his energy consumption, Gore’s average monthly electric bill topped $1,359."
How much is that in starving polar bears?
Posted by: Atlantiksegler | February 27, 2007 at 12:48 AM
"If only Al Gore had run the country in the last couple of years..."
But, then he wouldn't have had time to produce his Oscar-winning masterpiece -- which history will clearly judge to be the more worthy contribution, right?
Right?
Hello?
Right?
Btw, I was having a conversation with one of my German relatives the other day. We were in agreement that one of our pet peeves regarding the Greens was the way they preached that everyone must sacrifice for the good of the environment -- usually right before they climbed into their Mercedes S Class autos or BMW SUVs and raced on down the autobahn at 200 Kph on their way to a vacation somewhere to the south (driving or flying the whole way, naturally).
Here's a tip, environmentalists: "Do as I say, not as I do" is a no-go.
Posted by: Scott_H | February 27, 2007 at 11:05 AM
And let us not forget that other paragon of environmental virtue, Barbra Streisand. She's the one who told us all to dry our laundry on a clothes line.
The minute I heard that, I thought "What a great idea!".
So I went out and bought a new dryer.
Posted by: Pamela | February 27, 2007 at 12:04 PM
Aww, Scott, you are waaay too harsh on our poor little green. The Mercedes S Class and BMWs they are forced to climb into are often enough not even theirs but official cars. Künast even got one offered by Toyota after she proclaimed people in Germany ought to buy hybrid cars by Toyota.
Interesting article in the Economist, thanks. There are some minor points, that do not affect the story, that I am curious about. What is considered a premium car in the US? According to the Economist only one in ten cars in the US is a premium car, compared to 1 in 3 in Germany. Judging from this list of car classes I would think full-size cars (e.g. Chrysler 300) and up qualify as premium, that corresponds to upper middle class and better in Germany. Hoever, market shares of "upper middle class" and "upper class" make up 7% only, even if you add all "all terrain vehicles" (and many of them don't qualify as premium) you end up at 13.2%, a far cry from 33%. So what is considered a "premium car" in the US?
Posted by: blue | February 27, 2007 at 12:59 PM
Forgot to source the graphics, it is taken from this report by the Federal Motor Transport Authority.
Posted by: blue | February 27, 2007 at 01:04 PM
My husband informed me that the Oscar goodie bags contained some of those carbon offset credits Prince Al has.
He was wondering if those credits come in card form. He wants to buy a bunch of those credits and hand them out to the polluters.
Posted by: grlzjustwant2havefun | February 28, 2007 at 05:51 AM
is it possible that George Bush is a secret Green? Evidently his Crawford home has 25,000 gallons of rainwater storage, gray water collection from sinks and showers for irrigation, passive solar, geothermal heating and cooling. “By marketplace standards, the house is startlingly small,” says David Heymann, the architect of the 4,000-square-foot home. “Clients of similar ilk are building 16-to-20,000-square-foot houses.” Furthermore for thermal mass the walls are clad in "discards of a local stone called Leuders limestone, which is quarried in the area. The 12-to-18-inch-thick stone has a mix of colors on the top and bottom, with a cream- colored center that most people want. “They cut the top and bottom of it off because nobody really wants it,” Heymann says. “So we bought all this throwaway stone. It’s fabulous. It’s got great color and it is relatively inexpensive.”
Posted by: Carl Spackler | February 28, 2007 at 07:58 AM
Carl Spackler
Believe it or not, it's not GW as much as Laura. In addition to being 'green' the house is handicap-friendly. No stairs, etc. She even had the builder re-do a doorway floor because it was elevated a bit over an inch - too difficult for wheelchairs.
Posted by: Pamela | February 28, 2007 at 10:14 AM
Pamela's note about Barbara Streisand gave me a chuckle. She may want to wash her clothes by hand also.....I heard that Streisand's monthly water bill is $20,000.
A good blog post about Bush being greener than Gore can be read here:
http://theanchoressonline.com/2007/02/26/inconvenient-truth-bush-greener-than-gore/
The post goes even further than just Bush's house. It talks about his climate policy, restoring the marshes in Iraq, etc. What did Gore ever do when he was VP, again?
Posted by: Frogg | March 01, 2007 at 06:58 AM
Then what's all the fuss about 10,000 jobs being cut at Airbus?
Posted by: Motorhead | March 07, 2007 at 10:54 PM
Motorhead,
It shows a lack of social justice. Secondly in a social welfare state such as france and Germany these cuts are not suppose to happen. The state is suppose to provide all. So for the good of all, one can expect to see the taxpayers of Germany and france helping Airbus directly or helping the displaced workers.
It really is a lot to do about nothing as the state will provide in the end. This is just the opening act.
Posted by: joe | March 08, 2007 at 05:26 AM