Anna Gát says an EU Commission economist advised her against starting a company because enough businesses already existed

Thanks, and agreed!

But nothing that institutions or experts say actually prevents people from installing AC. Everyone I know in Europe who wants AC has it, as do almost all shops, restaurants, and other businesses.

Conversely, allowing everyone to install AC does not mean those who need it most will end up with it. That’s a deployment and funding challenge, not an ideological one.

Again, bear in mind that the typical victim of a heatwave in Europe is an elderly woman on a small pension, renting a small social housing flat and already struggling to pay her electricity bills. I don’t see how all the trolling and outrage helps with any of that. 🤷🏻‍♂️

@Nicolas_Colin https://www.gbnews.com/news/air-conditioning-heatwave-remove-40c-net-zero

This is perhaps an egregious instance, but there is clearly a strong institutional bias against air-conditioning across Europe, and to claim otherwise is not very credible to me.

@Nicolas_Colin

@Nicolas_Colin

@patrickc That’s one council in London. Europe is large and diverse.

@Nicolas_Colin @patrickc "Everyone who wants AC has it, as do almost all shops, restaurants" isn't true, though! AC situation noticeable to Americans b/c many public Eur establishments don't have AC. On refurbs - since heat pumps = AC, the argument also "Europe buildings old, so can't decarbonize either"

I don’t want to have to justify the infrastructure disaster that Germany has become 🙃 The same goes for stranded trains, perpetual roadworks, the wildly overbudget Berlin airport, the crumbling healthcare system, and so on.

So, in my view, this is not an air conditioning problem. It’s the reflection of a mix of institutional gridlock, excessive fiscal constraints, and severe labour shortages caused by demographic decline and years of resistance to immigration.

(I lived in Germany from 2020 to 2024.)

@Nicolas_Colin @patrickc > nothing that institutions or experts say actually prevents people from installing AC

Lots of European countries have rules that make AC installation hard or impossible. From building code prohibitions to excessive noise regulations and overly strict HOA requirements.

@patrickc @Nicolas_Colin It’s that, but also something way more concrete than that, which is: many Americans have traveled to Europe in the summer and don’t know why we are taking such a sustained avoidable L for literally no reason.

@patrickc @Nicolas_Colin In most of Ireland and the UK, AC is hardly necessary

It doesn't get to a temperature where one would need it for more than a few days per year

@patrickc @Nicolas_Colin As if AC is in the top 1 million of things Europeans talk about. Nobody cares about it because most Europeans simply don't have to care about it (they either don't need it or they have it).

@patrickc @Nicolas_Colin It surprised me how quickly Europeans start looking at their government when it comes to the AC debate. Unless you live in a “protected” building you don’t need the government’s approval to put in an AC unit yourself. Plain and simple. The resistance is mostly cultural

@Nicolas_Colin @patrickc That's not true.

For instance, in Switzerland, fixed wall-mounted AC units are subject to authorization from the authorities in most cantons.

@Nicolas_Colin @patrickc Politicians have lots of power to fix and override those veto points, but they don’t want to. Because they ideologically believe AC is bad

@Nicolas_Colin @patrickc As an American watching this on this platform and staying out of it until now. The one statistic that surprised me was the fact that more citizens in the EU die from the heat each year than Americans do from guns. American gun policy is inexcusable so is this.

@patrickc @Nicolas_Colin Patrick, Not certain your argument is valid. 1st because the issue mainly appears in France, which has always been a leader in nuclear energy. 2nd because, before the climate change - the US are in denial of, AC was not needed in the major part of Europe. No link with degrowth.

@patrickc @Nicolas_Colin None of France’s heatwave “experts” on TV are mechanical engineers: the only people actually qualified to talk AC trade-offs.

AC bad, but heat pumps are fine? Same machine, just reverse thermal cycle.

Or “AC makes you sick”.... explain the rest of the world

@Nicolas_Colin @patrickc last i heard, many people giving birth or sick in hospitals in germany want it

@Nicolas_Colin @patrickc > allowing everyone to install AC does not mean those who need it most will end up with it

It’s ideological in the way that lots of leftist politicians use this argument to say “nobody should have AC because it’s unjust” as opposed to “let’s figuring out funding”

@patrickc @Nicolas_Colin Yes. To understand the issue, consider that Europeans would find it acceptable to freeze a bag of ice, put the ice in a towel, and point a fan at the towel. Even though that's more wasteful and freezers operate on the same mechanism as AC, that is acceptable while AC is not.