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Pulvar does have a point about one thing. According to global emissions data, the United States is the world’s second-largest greenhouse gas emitter, behind only China. Meanwhile, only about 25% of homes in France have air conditioning.
On the other hand, the lack of widespread air conditioning has become a growing concern as Europe experiences increasingly intense heat waves. In late June, the World Health Organization said more than 1,300 excess deaths (meaning: those beyond the expected mortality rate for that time of year) had been recorded since June 21 because of the record-breaking heat affecting the continent.
At the end of the day, this feels like one of those situations where two very different travel expectations collided.
Americans are used to hotels, restaurants and public spaces that are heavily air conditioned, especially during the summer. In much of Europe, that’s simply never been the norm. As a result, what one visitor sees as an unacceptable lack of comfort, a local may see as perfectly ordinary.
Whether that changes as Europe experiences hotter and more frequent heat waves remains to be seen. But for now, if air conditioning is high on your list of must-have hotel amenities, it’s probably worth checking before you book—especially if you’re traveling during the hottest months of the year.
After all, it’s much easier to know what to expect before your trip than to complain about it after you’ve arrived.
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10 comments
I’m not at all sure I buy the French greenwashing. There are much more Eco-friendly air conditioning options that the French government could require, which would both provide comfort and still be environmentally conscientious.
Hiding a lack of something people very much want and arguably need behind a facade of earth friendliness comes across as rather trite. This reminds me a lot of Beatniks celebrating the nobility of poverty and railing against money when it came across as them disliking money because they didn’t have any.
She also fails to mention that when you combine all of the countries in Europe vs. just France, their carbon emissions are actually much closer to that of the United States. That isnt to negate the overall validity (or lack thereof) of her argument. But rather its to say her selective data is misleading.
Bingo.
BTW – population of U.S. = roughly 340M. Of France = about 66.8M.
We probably drink more ice water than them, too, simply because our population is more than 5x theirs and, as a country, we prefer that over uniced.
Actually France gets most of their electricity from Nuclear so they are very green.
A quick search gives this info (might not be 100% correct)
The breakdown of the country’s generation mix includes the following specifics:Nuclear: ~67% to 69% of total electricity generation.Hydropower: ~14%.Wind: ~8%.Solar: ~4%.Fossil Fuels (gas, oil, coal): ~3% to 5%.
Really annoys me when hotels advertise AC when they don’t actually have it.
The {REDACTED} seems to forget to mention the fact that thousands of her nation’s people have died as a consequence of not having AC.
{Comment redacted by YMMV to remove portion(s) that is/are against YMMV’s requirements for approval}
Maybe so – but we didn’t; we mentioned it above. BTW, it’s not been “thousands.”
Actually it is. Per chatgpt.com:
France’s public health agency has estimated about 2,025 excess deaths during the week of June 22–28 associated with the exceptional heatwave. Those figures are preliminary and based on incomplete death registration, so they may be revised.
It has been in the thousands. Moreover, if anything, it will be revised upwards…
Actually, the European Union’s greenhouse emissions are about half that of the United States. And the European Union’s emissions are actually decreasing slightly. Pulvar has a point. The United States could be adopting an intelligent energy future instead of denying man-caused climate change and not going full speed ahead on renewables (even though, despite the best efforts of the current administration, the rest of the world and many in the United States are going full speed ahead with renewables and leaving the United States in the dust, unfortunately). Possibly to the chagrin of some, but to the delight of most of us, an unintended consequence of the war with Iran is that renewables are getting a boost. AC is a Band-Aid. What is really needed is action on reducing emissions.