Politics of air conditioning
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
There is a longstanding political controversy about air conditioning, particularly in the nations of Europe, where the technology is relatively unadopted.[1][2] The strongest opposition generally originates from environmentalists, European federalists, and left-wing parties, while supporters tend to be from the political right.
Most European governments have not adopted air conditioning, and there is strong opposition in many countries to its adoption, often linked to ideas that it is inherently against the notions of European culture, environmentally unfriendly, and elitist.[3] Opposition, however, has generally softened in recent years.[2][4]
In the United States, where air conditioning is widely adopted, political energy revolves around inequality in who has access to air conditioning. Air conditioning is also viewed as a necessity in Southeast Asia. But as green policies move forward, local discussions are now focusing on how to set the right temperature and exactly when or how many people are needed to turn it on.[5][6] Meanwhile, in Northeast Asian countries with four distinct seasons, newer HVAC technology that generates heat in winter and functions as air conditioning in summer have drawn significant attention. While governments claim it is necessary to phase out inefficient cooling units and kerosene heaters, whether society can bear the costs of mandatory upgrades for environmental causes has also become a focal point of public debate.[7][8]
Background
Socioeconomic groups with an annual household income below around $10,000 (circa 2021) tend to have a low rate of air conditioning adoption,[9] which worsens heat-related mortality.[10] The lack of cooling can be hazardous, as areas with lower use of air conditioning correlate with higher rates of heat-related mortality and hospitalizations.[11] Premature mortality in New York City is projected to grow by between 47% and 95% in 30 years, with lower-income and vulnerable populations most at risk.[11] Studies on the correlation between heat-related mortality and hospitalizations and living in low socioeconomic locations can be traced in Phoenix, Arizona;[12] Hong Kong;[13] China;[13] Japan;[14] and Italy.[15][16] Costs of health care can act as another barrier: the lack of private health insurance during a 2009 heat wave in Australia was associated with heat-related hospitalization.[16]
Disparities in socioeconomic status and access to air conditioning are connected by some to institutionalized racism, which leads to the association of specific marginalized communities with lower economic status, poorer health, residing in hotter neighborhoods, engaging in physically demanding labor, and experiencing limited access to cooling technologies such as air conditioning.[16] A study examining the US cities of Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis, and Pittsburgh found that black households were half as likely to have central air conditioning units when compared to their white counterparts.[17] Especially in cities, redlining and other historical practices mean that racial disparities are also played out in heat islands, increasing temperatures in certain parts of the city. This is due to heat-absorbing building materials and pavements and lack of vegetation and shade coverage.[16][18] There have been initiatives that provide cooling solutions to low-income communities, such as public cooling spaces.[19][18]
Cooling has allowed for growth of indoor home space and has encouraged people, including children, to stay indoors more often.[20] It has also created uniformity[clarification needed] of different geographical areas and climate zones.[21]
By country
France
Air conditioning is rare in France.[2] Support is polarised by ideology, with right-wing parties favouring and left-wing parties opposing its adoption.[22] As of August 2025, the only major party to explicitly support the mass adoption of air conditioning is France's right-wing populist National Rally, with leader Marine Le Pen calling on the nation to have a plan to widely adopt air conditioning in the coming years.[2] Left-wing parties have generally opposed the measures as harmful to the environment and against European culture.[2][23]
United Kingdom
The climate of the United Kingdom is temperate, and the installation rate of home air conditioning systems had historically been low. In June 2025, the director of the Air Conditioning Company in London said that demand for portable air-conditioning units had increased by 625% compared to the previous year.[24] The homeware retail chain Robert Dyas said that from 2019 to 2024, its stores had seen a 4,000 percent increase in the sale of fans and air-conditioning units.[24]
Proponents of air conditioning in the United Kingdom include Conservative Member of Parliament Jack Rankin, who said in 2025 that it was "ridiculous that in a country facing record heat, it’s still so hard to install air con at home", and blamed "enviro-loons" and "outdated nanny state rules."[25]
Germany
Germany has a rather cool climate compared to western European countries. By 2021, there was only 3% of household owned conditioning, but the market for air conditioning had grown by 8% in 2020.[26]
Traditionally, the Greens prefer passive solutions rather than air conditioning. For example in 2025 the Greens in the Karlsruhe City Council adopted a heat action plan that promoted measures of building design, shading, and ventilation,[27][28] which drew criticism from the city's Young Union, the joint youth organisation of the CDU/CSU, which argued that "Effective air conditioning instead of green heat dogmas is needed in Karlsruhe".[29] In 2026, Katharina Dröge, the co-chair of the Green Party's parliamentary group in the Bundestag, proposed a funding programme for "climate‑solar systems": air conditioning systems tied with simultaneous installation of solar cells on the roof. Dröge called this combination the "most sensible" and criticized the inertia of Friedrich Merz's government.[30] The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) touted a massive roll-out of air conditioning while still rejecting heat pumps,[23] (which they call "heizhammer", the heating hammer).[31][32]
United States
As of 2020[update], 88% of US households had some form of air conditioning, with prevalence being highest in the Midwestern and Southern United States.[33] Within metropolitan areas, air conditioning is more prevalent in suburbs than the urban core, even though temperatures in the core tend to be elevated due to the heat island effect.[34]
In many parts of the US, state or local laws require landlords to heat rental properties above a specified minimum temperature during winter months; however, relatively few jurisdictions have corresponding laws to cool properties below a maximum temperature during summer months.[35][36] Moreover, some landlords entirely ban air conditioning from their rental properties, although some municipalities have passed laws to forbid this.[35][36]
During the 2026 North American heat wave, New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani announced that "The best protection against extreme heat is air conditioning", and activated air conditioned cooling centres in the city.[37] Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist, advised residents to keep air conditioners set to no lower than 26 °C (78 °F).[38] Conservative politicians in the US states of Kentucky and Florida declared it evidence of communism; another charged Mamdani with waging "war against women in menopause".[38] Journalists noted that similar thermostat recommendations had been published by conservative-led US state governments, and also the Trump government, which did not respond to press enquiries on the matter and deleted the recommendation.[38]