Gore's 'carbon offsets' paid to firm he owns
Critics say justification for energy-rich lifestyle serves as way
for former VP to profit
Posted: March 2, 2007
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Al Gore's Nashville mansion |
(WorldNetDaily.com) - Al Gore defends his extraordinary
personal energy usage by telling critics he maintains a "carbon
neutral" lifestyle by buying "carbon offsets,"
but the company that receives his payments turns out to be partly
owned and chaired by the former vice president himself.
Gore has built a "green money-making machine capable of
eventually generating billions of dollars for investors, including
himself, but he set it up so that the average Joe can't afford
to play on Gore's terms," writes blogger Dan Riehl.
Gore has described the lifestyle he and his wife Tipper live
as "carbon neutral," meaning he tries to offset any
energy usage, including plane flights and car trips, by "purchasing
verifiable reductions in CO2 elsewhere."
But it turns out he pays for his extra-large carbon footprint
through Generation Investment Management, a London-based company
with offices in Washington, D.C., for which he serves as chairman.
The company was established to take financial advantage of new
technologies and solutions related to combating "global
warming," reports blogger Bill Hobbs.
Generation Investment Management's U.S. branch is headed by
a former Gore staffer and fund-raiser, Peter S. Knight, who
once was the target of probes by the Federal Election Commission
and the Department of Justice.
Hobbs points out Gore stand to make a lot of money from his
promotion of the alleged "global warming" threat,
which is disputed by many mainstream scientists.
"In other words, he 'buys' his 'carbon offsets' from himself,
through a transaction designed to boost his own investments
and return a profit to himself," Hobbs writes. "To
be blunt, Gore doesn't buy 'carbon offsets' through Generation
Investment Management – he buys stocks."
As WND reported, Gore, whose film warning of a coming cataclysm
due to man-made "global warming" won two Oscars, has
a mansion in the posh Belle Meade area of Nashville that consumes
more electricity every month than the average American household
uses in an entire year, according to the Tennessee Center for
Policy Research, citing data from the Nashville Electric Service.
The think tanks says since the release of Gore's film, the
former presidential candidate's energy consumption has increased
from an average of 16,200 kilowatt-hours per month in 2005,
to 18,400 per month in 2006.
Article at: worldnetdaily.com
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