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I like Al Gore, like "An Inconvenient Truth", but actually his electricity usage went UP. see http://www.tennesseepolicy.org/main/article.php?article_id=764

Hey everybody...look at the ignorant Europeon (misspelling intentional) who doesn't know what the frak he's talking about. Read about your idol and weep. It ain't BS if it's the truth. You might even call it an inconvenient truth (the authors of the linked article did).

I'd say hunting for Manbearpig, but sources tell me his MASSIVE home energy consumption is fueling its containment cage.

Or about 1 million Al Gore type homes.

Oops - he made some improvements last year - so make that only 900,000 homes worth.

http://www.hypercars.com/main.html

A Prius at 46 MPG uses about 800 watt-hours per mile

So, a commute of 30 miles each way is going to use 800 watt-hours * 60, or 48 kw. Charging that up between midnight and 6 am means a continuous draw, assuming ZERO loss in the charging circuit, of 8kw - 37 amps at 220 volts. You're not going to get the equivalent of 46mpg in snow, carrying a load, using the heater or ac, etc., and you're going to have charging inefficiencies, so 50 amps, or 11 kw/hr for 6 hours, or 66 kw-hrs per charge is a more reasonable load.

http://www.tennesseepolicy.org/main/article.php?article_id=764

he average American household consumes 11,040 kWh in an entire year

So, you want to add 66 kw/hrs * 360, or 23,760 kw to the current demand of each customer. NO utility can handle a trippling of demand. Even taking the most optimistic usage (prius, no losses, no snow, no heat, no ac), you'd still more than double demand. Can't be done without rebuilding the whole distribution grid, right down to the transformers on each street.

http://tennesseepolicy.org/main/article.php?article_id=764

Our self-appointed leaders should lead by example, shouldn't they?

You my friend, are on to something. The global warming crowd talks quite a bit about taxing carbon, because this will somehow save the planet. Other things are taxed to deter their use, such as tobacco, and alcohol, so it's hardly a new idea. If we start taxing carbon, what other taxes shall we reduce to make to plan revenue neutral for the government??? It's a valid policy question that has nothing to do with my love or hatred of wealthy white men. The global warming crowd would also do themselves a massive favor if more of their ranks demonstrated their willingness to reduce their own carbon footprint. Driving yourself around in a 2.5ton SUV while yelping about mankind causing global warming just makes you look silly. A point that is apparently lost on Al Gore. http://www.tennesseepolicy.org/main/article.php?ar ticle_id=367

Whatever you do, don't tell Al Gore about this! He will totally freak out if he learns that the sun is a bigger culprit in the warming of the Earth the than his home electricity bill. I'm super serial!