{"id":455088,"date":"2026-07-11T11:26:47","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T18:26:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=455088"},"modified":"2026-07-11T11:26:49","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T18:26:49","slug":"fatal-snobbery-in-france-its-better-to-die-from-a-heatwave-than-to-do-as-americans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=455088","title":{"rendered":"Fatal Snobbery: In France, It\u2019s Better To Die From A Heatwave Than To Do As Americans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

From No Trick Zone<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By P Gosselin<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

French authorities seem to prefer seeing citizens suffer through heatwaves \u2013  and die by the thousands  \u2013 than utilizing modern air conditioning.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Image by P. Gosselin using Grok AI<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cEcological virtue\u201d has turned into a public health hazard<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The French climate blogsite Cliumat et Verit\u00e9<\/a> writes about why the French have an aversion to ACs, even when temperatures exceed 40\u00b0C.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his blog post \u201cPas de climatisation, s\u2019il vous pla\u00eet ! Nous sommes Fran\u00e7ais!<\/a>\u201c<\/em> (Please, no air conditioning! We are French!), Nicolas Lecaussin discusses an ironic editorial from The Wall Street Journal<\/em><\/strong> that mocks the French government\u2019s reluctance to embrace air conditioning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He notes that French authorities seem to prefer seeing citizens suffer through heatwaves approaching 40\u00b0C rather than utilizing modern air conditioning. Lecaussin highlights guidelines from ADEME (the French Agency for Ecological Transition) that discourage general AC use. The agency states AC should only be used as a last resort for vulnerable people (like the elderly or pregnant women), and even then, only in a single room with the temperature set no lower than 26\u00b0C (approx. 79\u00b0F), due to high energy consumption and climate impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lecaussin ridicules official government and healthcare service advice on staying cool without AC. These tips include wetting one\u2019s face and arms, eating cold soup, covering windows with homemade cardboard protectors, and turning off computers and hair dryers to limit indoor heat. Lacaussin argues this forces citizens to live abnormally rather than taking real steps against the heat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Climast et Verit\u00e9  post points out that even though public health agencies acknowledge a major surge in heat-related emergency room visits and hospitalizations, many French buildings (which it calls \u201cthermal kettles\u201d) and even hospitals themselves remain without air conditioning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

France\u2019s climate is known for its warm and sunny summers \u2013 especially southern France \u2013 and has always experienced heat waves. Yet, despite its aging population, the country refuses to install air conditioners. Instead, it allows thousands of elderly to die prematurely and blames the heat waves on fossil-fuel-generated prosperity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lecaussin concludes that prioritizing \u201cecological virtue\u201d over practical cooling has turned into a public health hazard, asserting that France has nothing to be proud of regarding this stance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If a prize were ever awarded for obstinate stupidity, some French officials would certainly win it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

French authorities seem to prefer seeing citizens suffer through heatwaves \u2013 and die by the thousands \u2013 than utilizing modern air conditioning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":455090,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691844027,691820794,691844030,691844028,691819118,691844026,691821240,691844029,691828271],"class_list":["post-455088","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-ademe-the-french-agency-for-ecological-transition","tag-air-conditioning","tag-ecological-virtue","tag-climast-et-verite","tag-france","tag-french-authorities","tag-heatwave","tag-public-health-hazard","tag-the-wall-street-journal-wsj","fallback-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/0-ChatGPT-Fatal-Snobbery-In-France-Its-Better-To-Die-From-A-Heatwave-Than-To-Do-As-Americans.png?fit=1672%2C941&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1Uo8","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":426268,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=426268","url_meta":{"origin":455088,"position":0},"title":"The Data: Dutch Meteorological Institute Reinstates Early 20th Century Heat Waves It Had Erased Earlier","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"02\/15\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Victory for climate skeptics, science in the Netherlands\u2026erased historical heat waves get reinstated","rel":"","context":"In \"climate skeptics\"","block_context":{"text":"climate skeptics","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-skeptics"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AQO3J7syICTURDr04nuzDp7xaPj6NQqyE9PEq-7WrtKxR7CYW8fOsbYErHlGeXE-9ItKJehYFREheVU1Ug3QN07UhixMlDopKqRS2HoYlK-bAU3mLl_eCuLezUWUk4MR.jpeg?fit=1200%2C662&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AQO3J7syICTURDr04nuzDp7xaPj6NQqyE9PEq-7WrtKxR7CYW8fOsbYErHlGeXE-9ItKJehYFREheVU1Ug3QN07UhixMlDopKqRS2HoYlK-bAU3mLl_eCuLezUWUk4MR.jpeg?fit=1200%2C662&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AQO3J7syICTURDr04nuzDp7xaPj6NQqyE9PEq-7WrtKxR7CYW8fOsbYErHlGeXE-9ItKJehYFREheVU1Ug3QN07UhixMlDopKqRS2HoYlK-bAU3mLl_eCuLezUWUk4MR.jpeg?fit=1200%2C662&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AQO3J7syICTURDr04nuzDp7xaPj6NQqyE9PEq-7WrtKxR7CYW8fOsbYErHlGeXE-9ItKJehYFREheVU1Ug3QN07UhixMlDopKqRS2HoYlK-bAU3mLl_eCuLezUWUk4MR.jpeg?fit=1200%2C662&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AQO3J7syICTURDr04nuzDp7xaPj6NQqyE9PEq-7WrtKxR7CYW8fOsbYErHlGeXE-9ItKJehYFREheVU1Ug3QN07UhixMlDopKqRS2HoYlK-bAU3mLl_eCuLezUWUk4MR.jpeg?fit=1200%2C662&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":334326,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=334326","url_meta":{"origin":455088,"position":1},"title":"No, BBC, It Was Not An Extreme Heatwave In\u00a0Phoenix","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"06\/24\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"As usual the BBC rely on Weather Attribution models which are clearly fraudulent, and designed for propaganda purposes only. 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