Ad hits Gore's green lifestyle

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Al Gore has been unfairly accused of unsound environmental practices, according to Kaylee Kreider, his spokeswoman. The former vice president actually leads an eco-conscious green life — complete with solar energy and geothermal heating.

His critics say he's attempting "to rewrite history."

In question is an advertising campaign that begins today by the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI). The broadcast spot says Mr. Gore's Tennessee residence uses 20 times more energy than the average American household — a claim based on damning information released last year by the Tennessee Center for Policy Research, which examined Mr. Gore's utility bills.

"The data that is cited in this ad is fairly old. The Tennessee Center for Policy Research and the Competitive Enterprise Institute are using dated and inaccurate information," Ms. Kreider said yesterday.

"The Gore home in Nashville has the U.S. Green Building Council's certification for energy efficiency and environmentally sustainable building. They received the second-highest standard rating — a gold-level LEED certification — on their home in November 2007," she continued.

The acronym stands for "Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design," a rating system developed by the D.C.-based nonprofit, which lauds design and construction techniques that are environmentally friendly and improve "occupant health and well-being," according to the group.

"Over the past three years, the Gores have installed solar paneling and a geothermal system for heating, cooling and hot water. This has been reported in the media," Ms. Kreider said. "The upgrades were under way before that research was released last February."

The Gore home is 80 years old, she explained, requiring a lengthy three-stage renovation and approval from the local neighborhood for certain upgrades. The work was completed in August.

The CEI spot, meanwhile, criticizes Mr. Gore's energy use, celebrity friends and other factors that cast him as both "high priest of global warming" and a hypocrite, according to CEI general counsel Sam Kazman.

"These groups have been going after the Gores for quite some time. Mr. Gore has a message about the dangers of global warming. These groups are going after the messenger because they don't like the message," Ms. Kreider said.

"Am I criticizing the messenger because I don't like the message? No, I'm criticizing the messenger because he's a hypocrite and a con man," countered Drew Johnson, president of the Tennessee research group. "Ms. Kreider didn't dispute our numbers last February. How could she? They came directly from the Nashville Electric Service."

"To dispute the information now is a pathetic attempt to rewrite history. The facts are the facts. Gore only made his house more environmentally friendly after my organization embarrassed him by exposing the truth about his outrageous energy consumption," Mr. Johnson said.