Europeans deserve to be as cool as Americans

 [[{“value”:”That is the (very good) title they gave my recent Bloomberg column.  Should Europe have more air conditioning?  Basically yes.  Here is one excerpt: Some 90% of the US has air conditioning, according to one estimate, compared to only 19% for Europe. Worldwide, the US, China and Japan account for about two-thirds of all air conditioning…
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That is the (very good) title they gave my recent Bloomberg column.  Should Europe have more air conditioning?  Basically yes.  Here is one excerpt:

Some 90% of the US has air conditioning, according to one estimate, compared to only 19% for Europe. Worldwide, the US, China and Japan account for about two-thirds of all air conditioning…

And yet it will not be easy to make Europe as cool (speaking only in terms of temperature) as America. Much of the continent faces higher energy prices than does the US, and there are taxes — in France, they are 20% on AC systems.

And then there are the esthetics. Many Europeans complain that artificially cooled air is less healthy or less pleasant to breathe — a view this American has some sympathy for. (I am not much bothered by the heat and enjoyed the fresh air of Siena.) European buildings are also on average older than those in the US, and were not built to make AC units easy to install. So issues may arise from local regulations and historic-preservation laws.

Some Europeans also have an option unavailable to Americans if the temperature truly is unbearable: They can take the entire month of August off. They can swim in the Mediterranean, or take a quick flight to Finland or Ireland. The economic lesson that people adjust to their circumstances is borne out by these realities.

Personally, I would prefer a world with less air conditioning, or with temperatures not so low.  And in Europe in particular, I enjoy how the relative paucity of AC forces people outdoors and into public squares.  But that is only me.  In sum;

So the best argument an American can make for why Europe should have more air conditioning is this: because Europeans want it. There are cultural forces keeping the shift toward more AC from proceeding as quickly as it ought to, but the transition will eventually happen. Why not accelerate the pace of installation and get to where much of Europe is likely to end up anyway?

My current hotel in Ireland…has no air conditioning.

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