Smoke-filled chat

Anyone get a load of Harry Reid’s fireside chat? It was very picturesque — right down to the details of a split-wood fire:

It was the 75th anniversary of President Roosevelt’s first Fireside Chat in 1933, delivered in the depths of the Great Depression. But with FDR long gone and a Republican in the White House, there was no obvious way to commemorate the occasion. So Reid and his aides hatched a plan: They lighted a split-wood fire in the green-marble fireplace in his office, pulled a leather armchair in front of it and invited reporters in for a “Fireside Podcast” delivered by Harry Delano Roosevelt. Or was it Franklin Delano Reid?

I don’t know what name should be bestowed on Reid, but I feel a duty to the earth to point out that what Reid and his aide did was a grotesque waste of carbon resources which sent the wrong environmental message.
Not only is burning wood in a fireplace bad for the environment, but it is a crime in a growing number of American communities, and the fireplaces themselves are rapidly becoming illegal:

Builders will be banned from installing wood-burning fireplaces in new homes, and it will be illegal to buy and install one when remodeling a home. Gas-burning fireplaces will be allowed.

I don’t know what the laws are in Washington, so I’m not about to issue a call for a special prosecutor. (Besides, legislators usually exempt government — and themselves — from all such laws, which is why school buses and “recycling” trucks are free to pollute like hell.)
Remember, this appalling misuse of carbon resources is coming from a guy who wants to “toughen air standards,” and calls for crackdowns on the evil coal industry.
I’m not calling Harry Reid a criminal (or even a hypocrite), but shouldn’t he be setting an example?
What’s next? A FDR-style cigarette in a holder?
Perhaps this is just a question of Harry Reid needing to get with the times. I mean, I’ve waxed nostalgically over the “SPLIT WOOD NOT ATOMS!” generation, but that movement went out of style, and by the early 90s it was becoming as politically incorrect as smoking. Seriously; here’s the NY Times from 1991:

Environmental groups that had promoted the use of wood-burning stoves through slogans like “Split Wood, Not Atoms,” are now supporting the restrictive measure under consideration here.

As to smoking, and FDR’s cigarette holder…
Isn’t there a lot of talk lately about the need for smoke-filled rooms in the Democratic Party?
I realize that Harry Reid has long been an anti-tobacco crusader, but if he ever changes his mind, have I ever got a brand for him!

No fireside chat would be authentic without them!
MORE: The video of Reid sitting in front of the burning wood can be streamed here.

UPDATE: My thanks to Glenn Reynolds for the link! A warm welcome to all.
Comments always appreciated.