Europe May Never Be Cool, but It Can Be Air Conditioned: The continent’s political class needs to get over its aversion to life-saving technology. (J.D. Tuccille, 7.6.2026, reason)
“I’m horrified by the people who tell me you can put air conditioning everywhere. You think it will avoid forest fires?” France’s Minister of Ecological Transition Monique Barbut huffed in June, even as temperatures soared and the World Health Organization (WHO) reported more than 1,300 deaths in Europe just since June 21 because of high temperatures. After conceding the need for emergency leniency to permit the use of cooling technology, she complained, “It is not adaptation to climate change.”