FACTBOX-How green is your leader? PMs, Presidents answer
25 Feb 2007 23:05:35 GMT Source: Reuters
(This is part of a special report on renewable energy) Feb 26 (Reuters) - Governments round the world are trying to promote clean energies such as solar, hydro or wind power. But what are presidents, prime ministers and chancellors doing about it in their private lives? Following are some answers to Reuters' recent inquiries: U.S. PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH Has water-collecting devices around his ranch in Texas linked to a heating and cooling system that sends water deep below ground to keep it at a constant 67 Fahrenheit (19C), sharply cutting electricity use. Bush said in 2001: "It's the same type of system that Vice President Gore put in the vice presidential house, which I didn't realise, but he did." Kristin Hellmer, of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, also wrote of the ranch that "wastewater from showers, sinks and toilets goes into purifying tanks underground -- one tank for water from showers and bathroom sinks, which is so-called 'gray water', and one tank for 'black water' from the kitchen sink and toilets. The purified water is funneled to the cistern with the rainwater. It is used to irrigate flower gardens, trees, etc. Water for the house comes from a well." GERMAN CHANCELLOR ANGELA MERKEL "I save energy, as a lot of people do -- that starts with not leaving the television set needlessly on stand-by and goes to having an efficient heating system," she told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper this month. "But the most important thing is having a clear head for new directions. You can have economic growth without energy consumption growing at the same pace." She also owns a Volkswagen Golf -- a relatively small car -- that she sometimes uses on weekends privately. BRITISH PRIME MINISTER TONY BLAIR "He has already turned down the Downing Street thermostat permanently by one degree C (1.8 F) - one of the best things you can do to make sure your home is responsible for emitting less carbon dioxide. All the electricity we use in Downing Street is sourced through a special contract with a renewable energy supplier, and we have made sure that low-energy lightbulbs are now used throughout the building. We have recycling facilities for all the normal stuff like paper, tins and glass, but we also recycle office material like lightbulbs, printer cartridges and batteries," a Downing Street spokesman said. "Since April 2005 we have been carbon-offsetting all flights taken by the prime minister and his officials. We have recently said how we will reduce emissions from central government buildings substantially and make them carbon-neutral by 2012. In addition the PM offset his own most recent personal holiday (to Florida)." CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER STEPHEN HARPER "The PM is not in the same position he once was -- the family do not have the same amount of control over their living environment as they did before he became PM... They try to be responsible citizens and to teach their children about protecting the environment," wrote Carolyn Olsen at Harper's office. "He is the PM who ordered cars and drivers to stop idling outside Parliament Hill (seen as a waste of fuel simply to keep warm in winter). I have been informed that they use the energy- saving bulbs in each fixture that will take them. The NCC (National Capital Commission which runs 24 Sussex, the prime minister's official residence) is looking at better, more energy-efficient ways to heat 24 as well. They also recycle at 24 as a matter of course. As a family they have a van for personal use (reasonable mileage)," she said. INDIAN PRESIDENT A.P.J. ABDUL KALAM Made the ground-breaking step of buying solar-powered refrigerators for his presidential complex in New Delhi.Kalam, a former missile scientist and keen environmentalist, also plans to light the presidential home with solar power. Reports say a new structure needs to be built for mounting the solar panels, to avoid cutting down 15-20 trees in the compound. "This (solar power) will be a cost-effective solution for meeting the household energy requirements and also maintaining a clean environment," Kalam said at a recent conference. "The message is that when we design buildings, we should ensure that we are able to make maximum use of nature's gift such as light, health and breeze for providing comfortable living for the occupants." ITALIAN ACTING PRIME MINISTER ROMANO PRODI His spokesman was investigating the question when Prodi resigned after losing a parliamentary vote on foreign policy. He is a keen cyclist who both in Italy, and in Brussels when he was European Commission president, promoted the bicycle as a green form of transport. Prodi travels for most business purposes by chauffeur-driven car but often takes the train between Rome and his home town of Bologna in northern Italy. UGANDAN PRESIDENT YOWERI MUSEVENI A spokesman said Museveni had no personal plan or initiative to protect the environment in his private life. Uganda's constitution guarantees environmental protection, the spokesman said, and there is a ministry devoted to it, so Museveni leaves it to them. He is more focused on economic development, the spokesman said. NORWEGIAN PRIME MINISTER JENS STOLTENBERG "The prime minister tries like most people to save electricity and buys quotas to offset the greenhouse gases caused by his flights," spokesman Torbjoern Giaever Eriksen said. (Reporting by Deborah Zabarenko in Washington, Nita Bhalla in New Delhi, Jeremy Lovell in London, Eric Kirschbaum in Berlin, David Ljunggren in Ottawa, Daniel Wallis in Nairobi, Alister Doyle in Oslo, Robin Pomeroy in Rome)
