An Inconvienient Truth

This was a great post. And this was very telling:

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.

I can't help but be reminded that while Al Gore was doing a PR tour for his movie that George Bush was busy creating a protected marine preserve that is bigger than 46 of the 50 states. Bush got almost no publicity for actually saving a big swath of the planet while Gore just talked about it:

"The administration will have created the world's largest marine protected area and set aside one of the most pristine regions for generations to enjoy and to study," David Festa, director of the oceans program at Environmental Defense, said in a telephone interview on Wednesday.

Maybe if Bush had some "Hollywood-types" present when he signed that marine preserve into being then he would have gotten some attention?