Noah Smith
· Noahpinion
· June 28, 2026 at 06:26
· ⏱ 19 min read
| Read on Substack ↗
Summary
Europe's resistance to air conditioning, driven by degrowth ideology, cultural conservatism, and elite disinformation, is causing tens of thousands of preventable heat-related deaths annually, even as regular Europeans desperately seek AC. The author argues this resistance is economically and socially costly, and that Europe should follow Japan and Singapore in embracing air conditioning technology.
•More than 200,000 people have died from heat in Europe in the past four years, per WHO estimates.
•80% of people in France want AC installed in houses, schools, and public transit.
•Barreca et al. (2016) find that AC adoption explains essentially the entire decline in heat-related fatalities in the US since 1960.
•Europe accounts for only 13% of global fossil fuel emissions, making the climate impact of widespread AC minimal.
•The European Commission shut off AC for lower-floor employees while keeping it for upper floors including President Ursula von der Leyen.
•Heat death rate in Europe (23.5 per 100,000) is nearly double the US gun death rate (13.7 per 100,000).
•Portable AC units with a single tube are less effective but do cool; two-hose units reduce the problem.
•Japan adopted AC widely via 'mini split' units without cultural degradation, serving as a counterexample.