Climate Alarmists: Turn Off Your AC and Give Your 'Thermal Sense' a Break

"I don’t know if it’s just age, or adrenal fatigue, or what, but I just don’t care about any of the stuff I’m supposed to be panicked about. It’s just relentless, every damn day, and I give up."

My old pal Jim Treacher is experiencing "outrage fatigue." I've had bouts of the condition myself from time to time. It's an occupational hazard when writing about politics.

But Jim is referring to the constant drumbeat from climate alarmists that we have to de-industrialize in order to survive. Of course, they don't say that out loud. Any candidate who said that would get clobbered in any election.

But it's their goal. Take us back to the Stone Age where we can live in caves and barter mouse meat for luxuries like ballpoint pens and knitting needles. Then we can save the planet.

Stan Cox of The Land Institute tries to make a case for swearing off air conditioning in the New York Times. Cox claims that AC is making our summers hotter because of all that hot air that's blowing out onto city streets. He says it raises the temperature three or four degrees. And, of course, the greenhouse gases, blah blah blah.

But Cox takes a truly novel approach to saving the planet. He says we should give up air conditioning to restore our "thermal sense."

In a 1979 book the architect Lisa Heschong maintained that just as the senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch crave variety, the thermal sense does, too. A tightly controlled “optimum” temperature is the thermal equivalent of beige, elevator music or soda crackers.

Here in Kansas, there’s ample temperature fluctuation to enjoy; when a storm front rolls through on a hot, sticky afternoon, the mercury can drop 20 degrees in a matter of minutes. Those storm cycles feel good because they give our thermal sense a good workout.

So we're taking climate change advice from an architect? Sheesh.

Former Tennessee Sen. Howard Baker once observed that when Congress used to adjourn for the summer because Washington sits in a swamp and the summers can be unbearable, the legislature couldn't pass a lot of spending bills. Once AC was installed in the Capitol, spending got out of control because Congress could meet year-round.

So maybe there's something to not having AC after all.

We might as well take advice from an evolutionary biologist because, you might not know this, but being hot is all in your head.

Our species evolved, biologically and culturally, under wildly varying climatic conditions, and we haven’t lost that ability to adapt. Research suggests that when we spend more time in warm or hot summer weather, we can start feeling comfortable at temperatures that once felt insufferable. That’s the key to reducing dependence on air-conditioning: The less you use it, the easier it is to live without it.

Cox goes through an elaborate explanation for why only turning on the AC a couple of times a summer is good for you and good for the planet. I am dubious.

I’ll admit, we run our house’s ancient central air system for two or three days each summer, usually when we have dinner guests or out-of-town visitors. During heat waves — such as the one that gripped the middle of the country this week, when temperatures rose above 100 degrees and our brains became heat-addled and the sheets sweat-soaked — we deploy a portable air-conditioner in the bedroom overnight. But this week was just the second time we’ve turned it on this year.

The guy is looking for applause. What a climate warrior we have here, enduring all so that planet Earth may live. 

My hero.

To keep us going through the rest of the summer, we rely on electric fans, which consume only about 2 percent of the energy needed to air-condition one room. They’re not only free of the refrigerants that amplify air-conditioning’s contribution to global warming; they can also save you money. Our June electric bill informed us that we’d used 80 percent less electricity than other homes in our town with similar (in our case, modest) square footage.

The awestruck peons are gazing upward in doe-eyed admiration for this climate hero and his self-abnegation. Maybe he wants us to kiss his damn feet.

It's a load of crap, of course. At age 70, many people my age and older would die without air conditioning. In fact, as Cox points out, many people die from the heat across the country because they're unfortunate not to possess any AC, window units, or central air. 

Thanks, but I'll maintain my "thermal sense" in my comfy air-conditioned home.