I'd estimate it's about 150 tons of carbon dioxide, some 10 times that of the average American. But someone should ask Senator McCain. After all, he says he wants to require all Americans to cut greenhouse gas emissions 60 percent to 70 percent by 2050.
As probably the whole country knows by now, John McCain does not know how many homes he owns. But the number seems to be between seven and 12, depending on whether you count his Sedona ranch as one house or six.
Given how conservatives beat up Vice President Gore for the supposed energy excesses of his one Nashville home, I can't wait until they start running TV ads attacking McCain's climate hypocrisy. (Note to self: Don't hold your breath.) After all, McCain fashions himself as a leader on global warming, just like Gore, but his combined homes have a considerably larger square footage than Gore's -- and thus presumably a much larger energy use. That said, the energy use of McCain's homes is infinitely less relevant than their greenhouse gas emissions.
So what is the carbon footprint of McCain's countless homes? Here is a rough estimate. According to press reports, just one of McCain's homes, his $4.66 million condo in Phoenix, is about 7,000 square feet, which is three times the size of the average American home built last year. His $850,000 Virginia condo is another 2,100 square feet. Given a total estimated value of McCain's homes of $14 million, one can make a very rough estimate that McCain has 10 times the carbon footprint of the average American home, which is about 15 tons of CO2.
The rich are different from the rest of us. They pollute a lot more.
Now, I seriously doubt that McCain is purchasing 100 percent renewable power, using state-of-the-art energy efficiency, including a geothermal heat pump, to all but eliminate his carbon footprint, as Gore is. After all, he doesn't believe such technologies work.
For now, I'll stick with 150 tons of carbon dioxide for the carbon footprint of his homes, which are listed here (from the NYT):
Their ranch in Sedona, Ariz., where Mr. McCain is spending some down time this weekend, and its guest house and parcels, is valued at $1,766,440. (An Architectural Digest spread a few years back offers a glimpse.)
In Phoenix, two adjacent condos with a price tag of $4.7 million in 2006.In Scottsdale, Mrs. McCain also owns the Princess Medical Center, valued at $14 million, but this is not a residential property.
In Coronado, Calif., a condominium owned by Mrs. McCain's "Dream Catcher Family" corporation is valued, according to recent tax assessments, at $2.7 million. And records show another condo there as well.
In La Jolla, Calif., Mrs. McCain's trust owns another condo.
The couple also have a home in Arlington, Va., another condominium valued at $847,800 this year, according to public records.
This post was created for ClimateProgress.org, a project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund.
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Comments View as Flat
John former Marine Posted 5:06 am
22 Aug 2008
And his Karma footprint?
His Karma footprint must be at least as big as his carbon footprint. He's been responsible for the death of how many Americans and how many people in other sovereign nations because of his fascist nationalistic invasive interventionist "Christian" ideology?
Let's see...if we liken McCain's recent comments to another famous historical quote "let them eat cake," I'd say the revolution is coming closer every day.
Il faut cultiver notre jardin.
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bkpx Posted 5:31 am
22 Aug 2008
To Infinity and Beyond
How many planets would it take to support a world full of John McCains?
Better start building some battlestar cruisers.
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WWAGD?! Posted 9:05 am
22 Aug 2008
If you're got it...
...flaunt it!
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LGT Posted 11:25 pm
22 Aug 2008
Rich people's CO2 pollution
http://msrb.wordpress.com/2008/08/23/the-billionaires-con ...
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archigeek Posted 12:48 am
23 Aug 2008
Sad, really...
It seems most Americans look upon excess with envy, not disdain or scorn. This country has been turned upside down. Right is might, power is truth, torture is "enhanced interrogation", and the biggest criminal gang in the history of our country will almost certainly go unpunished. What does it mean to be an American when the people who are entrusted to enforce and protect the rule of law are the ones who engage in the most base and dehumanising efforts to pillage our Constitution and strip us citizens of our rights? If, though the Constitution still exists, there are efforts to not only undermine, but ultimately eliminate those rights, how can we still call ourselves American, when the reason for our countries' existence is being systematically and enthusiastically dismantled by those both on the right and the left? All in the name of "security". OT, I know, but the question bothers me. Another rant over.
The mellotron is your friend.
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WWAGD?! Posted 1:36 am
23 Aug 2008
Gore Sets Sail...
http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/gore-hits-the-waves-with-a-m ...
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WWAGD?! Posted 1:38 am
23 Aug 2008
American IPO
This is where the Libs are completely wrong. Wealth, spread among as many as possible, guarantees liberty because no one person can control it all (like Government).
The Founding Fathers were wealthy businessmen. America was their "startup company" -- breaking away from the parent because they felt they would rather keep the profits for themselves.
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Chris McMasters Posted 3:16 am
24 Aug 2008
Yeah, right on - right!
Who's to say abuse of 'executive privilege' is dictatorship?
Scooter Libby was so set up!
And come on, we all know now that 'to liberate' means to bomb...
They're not innocent Iraqi's - it's called 'collateral damage.'
Bush has said our economy is 'fundamentally sound'
aka 'recession.'
And 'freedom' despite the root of the word actually isn't free...
It costs trillions and means oil dependency. Oh yeah, and we have to sacrifice many lives.
Oh yeah, and to 'support the troops' means to put magnet stickers on your SUV, certainly not to use less oil.
Keep drilling! How did our oil get under their sand?
Drilling and war ARE our energy policies.
Give them a chance!
The sun and wind are just annoying ploys by rural America to wreck the jobs put forth by big oil and coal...
Al Gore a hypocrite? It's not like McCain puts wind turbines in his commericals when really he wants 45 new nuclear plants...
Hypocrisy indeed...
Chris McMasters
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amazingdrx Posted 3:22 am
24 Aug 2008
Hehey
A well deserved counter to the idiotic Gore critique by the GHG climate change deniers.
And there is Bail repeating it, right on cue. on water this time?
Ok Joe, how much water does all McBushs' houses consume? How about the family beer distributing business? How much water is wasted just washing the beer trucks?
how about the corporate plane and limosines?
http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog John Schneider, Northern Wisconsin
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WWAGD?! Posted 11:49 am
24 Aug 2008
McCain likes to Sprawl!
Was just reading Grand New Party by Douthat and Salam:
"...a recent study by Jan Brueckner and Ann Largey notes, Americans who live in lower-density -- that is, more suburban -- neighborhoods have more friends overall, are more likely to spend time with their neighbors, and are more likely to belong to social clubs or social groups than their urban counterparts."
p. 172
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grumpyoldman Posted 6:09 pm
24 Aug 2008
Is Al Gore any better?
As a non US citizen I look at things without political agenda. Thus I wonder if Al Gore is any better. As mentioned in this blog, the annual electricity usage at Al Gore's home has risen by 10%. That despite the fact that one already pinpointed him as being hypocrite when he consumed 221,000 KWh of electricity in 2007.
Eddy
http://www.grumpyoldman.be
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dixie Posted 9:47 pm
25 Aug 2008
Enough Blame to Go Around
John McCain is not alone in his wealth or ownership of multiple homes. Various politicians who tout green causes are investors in oil companies and other pollutors.
Beyond the scope of politicians, look at all the celebrities who tell everyone else to reduce their carbon footprint all while jetting off in private planes to their homes all over the world. Don't look down your nose at John McCain because he's a politician -- or worse! -- a conservative.
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