The proverb instructs us that we do better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness.  But what if one is making a killing at praising the darkness?  Would it not be better for that person to extinguish a single candle instead?  Al Gore didn’t do either on Curse the Light Earth Hour, in yet another show of environmental hypocrisy:

Do as I say, not as I do? Seems like former Vice-President Al Gore may be embracing that motto as evidenced Saturday night with the environmentalist’s failure to turn off the lights of his Nashville home for “Earth Hour.”

Drew Johnson, president of the Tennessee Center for Policy Research —the same organization that also found Gore’s home consumes 20 times more electricity than the average household — told Yeas & Nays that Gore’s Belle Meade-section mansion did not go dark during the global campaign’s designated hour between 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.

Johnson did admit that although it wasn’t as bright as can be,  Gore did have on “a dozen or so” floodlights on his trees, a light shining on his address number, and a noticeable “bluish glow” from his powered-on televisions and computers coming from inside his house.

“It was very noticeable compared to the fact that even the streetlights on his street were off for the hour,” Johnson said. He also added how ironic it was that Nashville was one of the “official” U.S. cities of “Earth Day.”

I wonder whether the other Earth Hour celebrants are now cringing in fear that Mother Gaia did not get fully appeased by their sacrifice this weekend.  The cult of nature worship lost one of its chief priests!  Quick, find an SUV for a burnt offering!

It doesn’t appear that Gore even attempted to cut back.  Why does Gore need floodlights for his trees?  I mean, for any day, let alone during Earth Hour?  A man who makes sure his trees get enough light should hardly scold people on energy usage for such frivolities as heat and food refrigeration. Maybe Gore will buy enough carbon credits to offset the tree lights and the TV.  Of course, since he owns the trading firm, he’s paying it to himself.

What did you do for Earth Hour?  I watched a new DVD set of The Tudors, featuring a time when hypocrisy limited itself to launching a new religion in order to get a trophy wife.

Update: Al Gore responds by denying everything, while saying that “no family is perfect”.