The Pope hates people with type 1 juvenile diabetes...
Because the pope is saying Insulin which needs refrigeration is apparently evil...
Posted on 06/23/2015 7:13:43 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Pope Francis’s aversion to air conditioning may be red hot, but he himself is comfortably cool.
In his encyclical Laudato Si’, published today, the pope lambasts wasteful consumerism and unchecked human economic activity as a root of climate change, singling out one product in particular for censure: the air conditioner.
“A simple example [of harmful habits of consumption] is the increasing use and power of air-conditioning,” Francis writes. “The markets, which immediately benefit from sales, stimulate ever greater demand. An outsider looking at our world would be amazed at such behavior, which at times appears self-destructive.”
But ironically, Francis probably penned his disapproval in a well-ventilated corner of his residence, Domus Sanctae Marthae, which has air conditioning.
Two years ago, Francis broke with tradition when he became the first pope since 1903 to forgo the papal apartments for newer, more modest accommodations in Domus Sanctae Marthae, an adjacent building erected in 1996 to house cardinals during papal conclaves. In line with Francis’s image as the “people’s pope,” a Vatican spokesman said the pope wanted a more “simple living arrangement.” Simple, yes, but air-conditioned.
The pope isn’t just being a tad hypocritical here – he’s being short-sighted.
Air conditioning is an exemplar of modern ingenuity, but it’s also a mechanical thermoregulatory product that’s often put to conservative ends — for instance to preserve important artifacts of the past. In fact, right next to the air-conditioned Domus Sanctae Marthae is the Vatican Secret Archives, which conserves invaluable documents spanning millennia by controlling the microclimate in which they are housed.
And next door to the Archives is the Sistine Chapel, where just a year ago the Vatican installed a new air-conditioning system to preserve the deteriorating, centuries-old frescoes while accommodating existing tourist traffic. Director of Vatican Museums Antonio Paolucci wrote in the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano that officials had to either limit access to the chapel in order to reduce the amount of dust and carbon dioxide brought in from the outside or find a technological solution. The Vatican’s decision to do the latter, according to Paolucci, allowed the Sistine Chapel “to breathe again.”
More valuable than a tool to preserve objects, of course, air conditioning is a tool to preserve lives. Two years ago, the National Bureau of Economic Research published a study concluding that air conditioning reduced heat-related deaths in the United States by 80 percent and could save even more lives in hotter, often poorer countries. A/C is an especially promising life-saving technology given the potential effects of climate change, the authors contend. “The typical Indian experiences 33 days annually where the temperature exceeds 90 degrees fahrenheit and this is projected to increase by as much as 100 days by the end of the century.”
Air conditioning also increases labor productivity and preserves capital stock, which has crucial implications for developing economies — and sweltering NR interns (@JackFowler). Jokes aside, another study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that labor productivity peaks at 65 degrees fahrenheit and decreases by around 15 percent every time the temperature rises by 10 degrees. Climate-control technology is also needed, the authors argue, to preserve textile threads, paper, and machinery.
Pope Francis’s words carry moral weight. If he’d like to help industrializing populations that benefit the most from air conditioning, he should find a different crusade.
— Shubhankar Chhokra is an intern at National Review.
AC is powered by refrigeration technology, so should we get rid of those too?
Pope Francis reminds me of Algore and all of the rest of the liberals and leftists.
Do as I say, not as I do.
How many people recently died in India due to a heat wave. Will the pope declare them martyrs for climate change?
The Pope hates people with type 1 juvenile diabetes...
Because the pope is saying Insulin which needs refrigeration is apparently evil...
[ Pope Francis reminds me of Algore and all of the rest of the liberals and leftists.
Do as I say, not as I do. ]
He remindds me of Obama: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBE0RKbRbl4
Obligatory: No Air conditioning for Africa clip
This imbecile doesn’t know when to shut his mouth.
I read an article in the Wall Street Journal years ago that said that Houston, Texas would not have developed as a metropolitan area, if not for the advent of air conditioning. Too frickin miserable otherwise.
This is Satan’s Pope.
Not all of us can sit around all day in our pope hat. It gets hot when you actually work, Your Popeness.
As a practicing Roman Catholic I feel I need to remind everyone that this institution has had all kinds of bad popes and when they forget the admonition “My Kingdom Is Not If This World” .It gets into all sorts of trouble. But survives.
These meandering homilys of this pope on temporal matters diffuse any theologic message Pope Francis offers. Snowballs should be thrown at those pointy hat supporters of his as well as opposition clearly expressed to those meanderings on any visit Francis may make here.
I couldn't imagine living in 1850's Gulf Coast Mississippi and not having it.
Oh Wait, I don't have to imagine because in 2009 I went to Air Force Tech School in Biloxi and EVERYTHING in my Squadron was still broken from The A.C. to Water most of the time.
Being just a regular Smuck from Kansas and not used to that sort of humidity it was tough to say the least.
At least Texas is a Dry Heat.
Air conditioning is the reason people think it is hotter outside than in the past. It is also probably the cause of the obesity problem. Oh well...I like the A/C.
so, what should I do when the second collection is for the heating and air conditioning bill?
There are three people in my family who would be dead without AC - all living with heart failure. Our temp is to go over the record 101 today with high humidity ... not good for the elderly and sick ... guess the Pope is into population reduction as well.
HA! Come to Houston and say that. The dew point was 75F this morning at 6...which is actually a little low for this time of year and I've seen it at 80F in the morning. Right now, the dew point is 77F and the RH is 84%. This is our life until mid/late-September.
The pope can have my AC when 1) He stops using it himself and 2) He pry's it from my cold dead hands.
I knew Frances was a chemist. He’s an economist, too?
I'm sure that that message will resonate big Time!
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