Headline News' Stouffer called "free market" group that attacked Gore an "environmental group"

On the February 27 edition of CNN Headline News' Robin & Company, anchor Lisa Stouffer reported on the criticism being leveled at former Vice President Al Gore by the Tennessee Center for Policy Research (TCPR), for what TCPR claims is Gore's "Inconvenient Truth" -- that, in 2006, his home used more than 20 times the electricity of the average household. Stouffer baselessly asserted that TCPR is "[a]n environmental group," despite the fact that, on its website, the center does not call itself an environmental group, but rather states that it provides "timely free market policy solutions" and "promotes personal freedom and limited government." Additionally, while Stouffer noted that a Gore spokeswoman said that "the Gores are renovating their house now to install solar panels," the weblog Think Progress also reported that Gore's office has said that the Gores have "sign[ed] up for 100 percent green power through Green Power Switch" and have "had a consistent position of purchasing carbon offsets to offset the family's carbon footprint."

In contrast with Stouffer's characterization of TCPR as an "environmental group," TCPR states in its frequently asked questions section on its website that it "focuses its research on economic policy" and has a "framework of individual liberty, property rights, free markets and limited government." TCPR also lists four "Policy Areas": education, healthcare, tax and budget, and "[o]ther," which it defines as "research that reflects the Founding Fathers' vision of a free society grounded in property rights and individual liberty based in personal responsibility."

Still, onscreen graphics during Stouffer's report called TCPR an "environmental group":

By contrast, ABC News senior national correspondent Jake Tapper identified TCPR as "an obscure conservative think tank." On February 21, the Nashville City Paper called TCPR "the Nashville-based free market think tank." The town of Farragut, Tennessee, which received an award from TCPR, referred to TCPR as "Tennessee's free market public policy think tank."

From the February 27 edition of CNN Headline News' Robin & Company:

STOUFFER: Welcome back, everybody. An environmental group is calling former vice president Al Gore a hypocrite. The Tennessee Center for Policy Research says Gore's Nashville-area mansion uses more than 20 times the national average in kilowatt-hours. A Gore spokeswoman told CNN the Gores are renovating their house to install solar panels so they can use less power. Gore's film on global warming, An Inconvenient Truth, won the best documentary Oscar, Sunday night.

[...]

STOUFFER: Former Vice President Al Gore is accused of not practicing what he preaches. Next, why some say his message about global warming apparently doesn't apply to him.

[...]

STOUFFER: An environmental group is calling former Vice President Al Gore a hypocrite. The Tennessee Center for Policy Research says that the energy used in Gore's Nashville-area mansion is more than 20 times the national average in kilowatt-hours. Well, a Gore spokeswoman told CNN the Gores are renovating their house now to install solar panels so they can use less power. Gore's film on global warming, An Inconvenient Truth, won the best documentary Oscar, Sunday night.

—B.J.L.