So Who's the Real Environmentalist?

The Goracle is getting all the accolades for his environmental activism, but as this post showed, he has a long way to go toward energy efficiency at his own home. However, there's another political leader whose private residence is a model of environmental goodness:

The 4,000-square-foot house is a model of environmental rectitude

Geothermal heat pumps located in a central closet circulate water through pipes buried 300 feet deep in the ground where the temperature is a constant 67 degrees; the water heats the house in the winter and cools it in the summer. Systems such as the one in this "eco-friendly" dwelling use about 25% of the electricity that traditional heating and cooling systems utilize.

A 25,000-gallon underground cistern collects rainwater gathered from roof runs; wastewater from sinks, toilets and showers goes into underground purifying tanks and is also funneled into the cistern. The water from the cistern is used to irrigate the landscaping surrounding the four-bedroom home. Plants and flowers native to the high prairie area blend the structure into the surrounding ecosystem.

No, this is not the home of some eccentrically wealthy eco-freak trying to shame his fellow citizens into following the pristineness of his self-righteous example. And no, it is not the wilderness retreat of the Sierra Club or the Natural Resources Defense Council, a haven where tree-huggers plot political strategy.

This is President George W. Bush's "Texas White House" outside the small town of Crawford.

But wait, there's more. There's another former Tennessee senator with a home that's a model of energy efficiency:

However, what you might not know is that the large white West Nashville home owned by the former U.S. Senator was newly renovated to include a closed loop geothermal field in order to take advantage of the non-polluting, renewable, and clean source of heating and cooling that is contained deep within the earth.

That would be the home of former Sen. Majority Leader Bill Frist.

The Goracle has offered a lame response to the criticism of his own massive energy use. You can read his response and Captain Ed's dissembling of same here.