![]() ![]() What technologies or techniques do you have in mind to make better use so that there’s not this sort of profligate use of AC? » GET MORE NEWS FROM AROUND THE STATE: Sign up for our weekly ‘Talk of Texas’ newsletter But it’s getting harder and harder each year to make that argument. ![]() Back 15 years ago when I wrote this book about air conditioning, I argued that certainly we need it for heat emergencies, but that the routine lavish use of air conditioning and commercial spaces and houses is excessive, and especially in this country. Is air conditioning here to stay, or do you see a time in which we we might actually be able to do without it? And then by burning more energy for air conditioning and the refrigerants from air conditioning, which are greenhouse gases, we’re guaranteeing that future summers will be even hotter. Stan Cox: Air conditioning kicks off kind of a vicious cycle in which our greenhouse gas emissions make summers become warmer, so we use more air conditioning. Texas Standard: To what extent does air conditioning itself contribute to global warming? This transcript has been edited lightly for clarity: Cox is a fellow at The Land Institute and the author of “Losing Our Cool: Uncomfortable Truths About Our Air-Conditioned World (and Finding New Ways to Get Through the Summer).”Ĭox spoke to the Texas Standard about whether a future with less air conditioning is still possible. Climate watchers like Stan Cox have long called to wean ourselves off AC, or at least reduce our reliance on it. There’s a contradiction inherent in air conditioning, though: The more we use it, the more we help heat the planet. And the number of people worldwide who use it is expected to grow, especially in places like China and India. Most parts of the state are stuck in a streak of triple-digit temperatures with no end in sight. At this moment in Texas, it is difficult to imagine living without air conditioning. ![]()
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