Posted on 07/23/2015 7:23:22 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
I know, I know … Europeans also believe in the fantasy that they can live in a socialist utopia of sorts and the bill will never come due too. Er, except in Greece, of course.
This “new” outrage, though, is simply the usual Euro “superiority” fantasy. They always have a better/smarter/eco friendlier idea and we New Worlders, well, we’re wasteful, uncouth and unsophisticated barbarians, or something:
Overall, it’s safe to say that Europe thinks America’s love of air-conditioning is actually quite daft. Europeans have wondered about this particular U.S. addiction for a while now: Back in 1992, Cambridge University Prof. Gwyn Prins called America’s love of air-conditioning the country’s “most pervasive and least-noticed epidemic,” according to the Economist. And according to the Environmental Protection Agency, it’s getting worse: American demand for air-conditioning has only increased over the past decades.
The U.S. has been the world’s leader in air-conditioning ever since, and it’s not a leadership Americans should necessarily be proud of. According to Stan Cox, a researcher who has spent years studying indoor climate controlling, the United States consumes more energy for air conditioning than any other country. In many parts of the world, a lack in economic development might be to blame for a widespread absence of air-conditioning at the moment. However, that doesn’t explain why even most Europeans ridicule Americans for their love of cooling and lack of heat tolerance.
Well good for them. Because as we recall back in 2003, their “superiority” worked out so well for them, didn’t it?
At least 35,000 people died as a result of the record heatwave that scorched Europe in August 2003, says an environmental think tank.
[…]
The EPI calculated the huge death toll from the eight western European countries with data available. “Since reports are not yet available for all European countries, the total heat death toll for the continent is likely to be substantially larger,” it says in a statement.
France suffered the worst losses, with 14,802 people dying from causes attributable to the blistering heat. This is “more than 19 times the death toll from the SARS epidemic worldwide”, notes the EPI.
Yes, that’s right, air conditioning can save lives. Lots of lives, apparently.
I’ll bet those 35,000+ might have found air conditioning being available to be lifesaving? We certainly lose a few to heat each year, but I’ll be honest, if I’d lost 35,000+ to heat in a single summer, I wouldn’t be smug enough to bring up America’s affection for air conditioning in a negative way.
But then, we’re talking about Europe, aren’t we? The land of very short memories, it seems.
Europeans also thinking getting off the plane in Miami and walking straight into the ghetto and getting shot in under five minutes is a good idea.
I’m with you - this is a yawn...
Just a guess...maybe we use more AC, because its hotter and more humid here than it is in Europe.
They wouldn’t think a/c is daft if they lived in Houston.
I don’t have AC in my home,, but anyways..
F U E U
And remember they think its quanint not to bathe.
The combination yuck.
The natural disposition is always to believe. It is acquired wisdom and experience only that teach incredulity, and they very seldom teach it enough. The wisest and most cautious of us all frequently gives credit to stories which he himself is afterwards both ashamed and astonished that he could possibly think of believing.The man whom we believe is necessarily, in the things concerning which we believe him, our leader and director, and we look up to him with a certain degree of esteem and respect . . .
The desire of being believed, the desire of persuading, of leading and directing other people, seems to be one of the strongest of all our natural desires. - Adam Smith, Theory of Moral Sentiments
“The republican principle demands that the deliberate sense of the community should govern the conduct of those to whom they intrust the management of their affairs; but it does not require an unqualified complaisance to every sudden breeze of passion or to every transient impulse which the people may receive from the arts of men, who flatter their prejudices to betray their interests.” ― Alexander Hamilton
These idiots are welcome to try a summer in Phoenix without it
They feel the same was about deodorant.
Its 72 degrees here but I just turned mine on because its humid and I want to keep the house cool as it warms up during the day.
And they’re stupid to let their seniors die from heat exhaustion and stress every summer.
LOL
AC is a good thing. We use two window units; not set too low. I can’t stand it like a fridge; but we live in the south where it gets HOT!
Move to the deep South and tell me you don’t like air conditioning, Euroweenies.
Most of Europe is at more northern latitudes than the USA.
That article you cited is why Americans have air conditioning. You couldn’t live in the high humidity of the southeastern USA summers or the broiling hot summers of the southwestern USA deserts without air conditioning.
LMAO. True.
RE: And they’re stupid to let their seniors die from heat exhaustion and stress every summer.
I have an ominous feeling of foreboding that this could be DELIBERATE.
Think of how much money it would save the state when they don’t have to spend too much to care for their elderly who are going to die soon anyway...
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