Good post. It is also worth pointing out that not only does AC use strain the grid and contribute to energy use and thus emissions, AC units also directly heat the area surrounding the building by ejecting hot air, exacerbating the heat island effect. Unfortunately, though far more energy efficient, heat pumps have the same fundamental problem. Both create, to quote JK Galbraith, “private affluence amid public squalor.”
Good post. It is also worth pointing out that not only does AC use strain the grid and contribute to energy use and thus emissions, AC units also directly heat the area surrounding the building by ejecting hot air, exacerbating the heat island effect. Unfortunately, though far more energy efficient, heat pumps have the same fundamental problem. Both create, to quote JK Galbraith, “private affluence amid public squalor.”
Definitely! I wrote more specifically about A/C last year; it's a bit of a boondoggle, as A/C literally saves lives, but also makes areas habitable that are no longer so: https://planetdays.substack.com/p/air-conditioning-heat-wave-climate-change