Intentions Are All That Matters

Consider my environmental footprint.

I drive a Hyundai Elantra (gets nearly 40 miles to the gallon on the freeway) less than 10 miles to work and I often ride my bicycle. Our one and only house doesn't even have air conditioning and we rarely use the heat. And we don't travel very much.

Consider Al Gore's environmental footprint.

1. Gore’s [20 room] mansion, 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). ... Gore’s extravagant energy use does not stop at his electric bill. Natural gas bills for Gore’s mansion and guest house averaged $1,080 per month last year.

2. And he claims he uses renewable energy credits to offset the pollution he produces when using a private jet to promote his film. [...] Humanity might be "sitting on a ticking time bomb," but Gore's home in Carthage is sitting on a zinc mine. Gore receives $20,000 a year in royalties from Pasminco Zinc, which operates a zinc concession on his property. Tennessee has cited the company for adding large quantities of barium, iron and zinc to the nearby Caney Fork River.

3. Turning now to the air, with the fuel Gore's private plane used for this trip, you could probably take your vehicle and travel back and forth between Vancouver and Halifax about four-and-a-half times. Gore chartered a Falcon 200, a twin-engine jet that seats nine. The distance travelled between Nashville, Regina, over to Calgary for an event Monday night, and then home to Nashville, totals more than 4,500 kilometres. According to local aviation experts, the Falcon 200 burns about 215 imperial gallons of fuel per hour. Based on distance and expected flying time, about 1,800 gallons of fuel will be used.

And so forth. Note that the above mentioned mansion is just one of the homes Gore owns and that he travels extensively.

Yet associates of mine who are ecofanatics think Al Gore is an environmental saint. These same associates consider me to be scum of the earth.

Why? Because intentions are all that matter.

My intentions are bad. I bought the Elantra, not because I wanted to save the planet, but because I couldn't find a car that I really liked at any price (I considered Lexuses and other luxury cars but didn't like them) so I decided to buy something inexpensive instead. Turns out it gets great gas mileage but that's not why I bought it. We live in San Diego near the beach where the temperature is generally fairly cool so there's no need for air conditioning. Of course, it doesn't get cold either so no reason to use the heat. San Diego is very nice, so why travel anywhere? And, of course, unlike Al Gore, I don't have a movie to promote.

In addition, I'm just not very reverent to the whole climate change apocalypse thang. I actually have the gall to poke fun at his saintness and other ecofanatics, and, well, write posts like this one.

So the scorecard is: Me - behaviours good, intentions bad, Al Gore - behaviours horrendous, intentions (supposedly) good.

Therefore I'm dogmeat and Al Gore is a saint.

I guess I should start learning to lie. Then I could just pretend my intentions are good. You don't suppose there's any possibility that Al Gore is doing just that, do you? If he were just pretending to have good intentions, but really had not so admirable motivations, how would we tell?