Julia Louis-Dreyfus and husband Brad Hall discuss their "eco-friendly" hideaway | 31 Jul 2003

question In what areas were you not able to be energy-efficient?

answer Hall: Let's face it: Having a second home is itself a sort of appalling excess. We figured if we're going to do it, we better be as responsible as we can. We were diligent about keeping the scale small and trying to get as many of our materials and labor locally, so they didn't have to travel long distances. Admittedly, some of the tropical hardwoods -- the bamboo and sustainably harvested mahogany and ipe -- were shipped in from countries like Guatemala and Honduras. Oh, and there are a few items like the Jacuzzi that kick up the energy load, but we make up for it with efficiencies elsewhere. The larger point is that living efficiently is not about asceticism, it's about balance.

question Like for instance that Porsche Roadster I saw parked in the driveway next to your Honda EV -- is that yours?

answer Hall: Yes, but that gets around 30 miles per gallon, which you have to admit isn't bad. I generally use the EV for my daily commutes. Unfortunately, I'll eventually have to retire it because there's nowhere to service electric vehicles anymore. To my mind this is nothing short of a national tragedy. The electric car is a brilliant solution to our energy woes. We already have a comprehensive electricity system in place; all we have to do is pump in the renewable energy to make it clean. The auto industry has given up on it -- probably currying favor to the petroleum industry. We just bought two Toyota Priuses, which we'll be using for most of our daily travel.

question What are the motivating factors behind your eco-warrior lifestyles?

answer Louis-Dreyfus: This is a really scary time right now. The war and terrorism in the Middle East, the crisis of leadership in many of these oil-supply countries in the developing world, the crisis of global warming -- all these are very clearly tied to energy. I mean, what the hell is going on? Why isn't our leadership connecting the dots? What's so frightening about these issues is feeling like you don't have any control over them. So for me, these lifestyle decisions are a way of having control and feeling less guilty. I walk around feeling a sort of existential guilt all the time; for me this house is a way of feeling less guilty about the universe.