I feel guilty blogging this with Rachel and crew sweating it out in Afghanistan. And yet it's stuck with me, a singular theory: Air conditioning wrecked America.
Stan Cox, a science writer and author of Losing Our Cool, says air conditioning has made us fatter and less able to handle all kinds of weather. Cox says A.C. is creating demand for itself, causing global warming that makes us turn up the A.C. yet again. The U.S. now uses more electricity to cool our homes and workplaces than Africa uses for everything.
And there's more! Air conditioning launched the modern conservative movement, Cox tells Salon:
It's pretty much unanimously believed that if we had not had air conditioning, we could not have had this huge migration of population from the North to the Sun Belt, and we certainly wouldn't have seen 70 percent of all economic growth happening in the South since 1960. This has had major political implications by shifting electoral votes to predominantly red states in the South and West. In an imaginary world where air conditioning hadn't been invented, it could easily be the case that many of the big Republican victories in the '90s and 2000s would not have happened.
Maybe it's better if we just sit around and sweat, at least those of us who can.
[Salon]
(H/T: @buttermilk1)
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Yes,perhaps this is true.That's why we have an evaporative cooler in our home.They are 80% more efficient than AC and are far more dependable that AC;that's if you know how to take care of them! "RJM"
Unfortunately, evaporative coolers are only useful in areas with very low humidity. I lived in AZ for a few years, and once the humidity went above about 20%, you had to switch to regular A/C.
We are off the grid in Arizona on Solar & Generator Power. Three weeks ago our weather station showed 1% (not a typo One%) Relative Humidity. When operating the A/C we have to run the generator, as there is not enough solar to power it. There was no condensation. Now the RH is typically 25% in the AM, monsoons are being triggered, and the A/C has lots of condensation. You are correct about the limits of evaporative coolers. Besides we have very limited water in the High Sonoran Desert.
But I still am a Liberal Democrat, even with the A/C! :-)
*Quietly turns off the AC unit in the window*
Brilliant!
And A/C uses a tremendous amount of mostly unsustainable energy, and people who use air conditioners, particularly in arid areas, like the desert Southwest, use even more finite resources - oil, water, etc. than people in the Northeast and Northwest.
I pretend I'm in a sauna, facilitating detox, until the mosquitoes come, that is....
Well, people like me would be dead, but I guess the rest of you could make do. A couple of years ago, our C/A went out during a heatwave. It took a few days to get a new unit in. During that time, I developed congestive heart failure due to the heat. Probably would not have lasted more than a couple more days with air conditioning.
I understand, folks with asthma would be in a world of hurt too. However, if AC were never invented our bodies would not know the difference and acclimated to the heat. Humans survived without AC forever... We spoiled folks are the weak ones. (Including myself)
I think that had A/C never been invented, it would not be so much a case of acclimation as weeding out. Think about it, people whose systems cannot tolerate too much heat would die as opposed to acclimate. Although certainly when you cull the population, resources go further
Well, can I just say that I'm happy that I haven't been "weeded out" yet? I'm unlucky enough to seemingly have inherited my medical conditions. My family didn't "die out" before populating....in fact, many of the women died leaving housefuls of children behind. I don't know that there are really any fewer of us here taking up space because there was such "weeding" a generation or two ago. There seems to be a lot of us around with heart and respiratory problems that are probably at least partly genetic...therefore, lack of AC just seemed to cause more suffering than anything else.
I consider AC to be a luxury. I'd prefer not to live in the Southeast without AC. But very often folks in the Southeast jack up the AC to the point where it feels like a walk in fridge. When I lived in South Carolina I had a car without AC and people thought that was suffering.
I don't know what makes people feel if it's 90 outside it's gotta be 60 inside, and if it's 50 outside it's gotta be 80 inside. If it's anywhere between 50 and 80 outside, then I'm comfortable not having any AC or heating on.
Where I live now though, the high for this week is 60. So...I really don't need AC.
I've lived mostly hot places all my life (Alabama gulf coast and West Texas) but I recently moved to the pacific northwest. I don't have air conditioning where I live now, but I don't need it--even when it gets into the 90's and 100's because it gets down into the 50's and 60's at night. The problem with the Deep South and West Texas is that it doesn't get cool at night, and I think we would have some pretty bad health problems for the elderly in particular. Maybe AC is a bad choice and we should go with evaporative coolers (although I'm pretty sure they don't work as well in places with high humidity....ie Deep south), but my problem is more the excess use of AC in hot places in the US (ie why do people need to have the temp at 60 in the Southwest and Deep South in the middle of the summer). Maybe excess is the real problem.
I admit to it, but find other things to offset my A/C usage...I will admit it..
Seems like a bit of an anti-progressive and anti-geek thing to hate on air conditioning. Air Conditioning is HIGHLY important for goods to stay fresh and keep us fresh, so we don't stink.
It seems a bit contradictory for 90 pound geek to downplay ACs importance. Also note that California, New Mexico, and Nevada are largely liberal states and are likely the larger users of AC.
Bad Rachel. Bad!
Wow...you made AC usage a partisan issue? Energy conservation definitely isn't anti-geek...that's just weird.
North coast California doesn't have much use for AC. But California is going to consume more electricity because it has the most people.
But you make an entertaining argument.
i love my a/c. if not for a/c i would have left my family, and childhood friends long ago to move to a much cooler less humid climate than tennessee. those metal boxes in my windows help keep me near my roots. i love my family, and i hate hate hate hot weather. it's a tough choice, but the a/c helps me make the right one. i think as the south continues to grow, and becomes more urbanized, it will shift more left. progressives do actually exist in tennessee, though currently, sadly, outnumbered.
I think AC is generally credited with making the sunbelt possible. It's not a new idea.
Living in the south doesn't make one conservative. Without AC (and the ensuing population migration) we may be talking about the "red states in the Northeast" and the "blue south."
People are more productive when they're comfortable. Prior to air conditioning we also drove cars that got about 4 miles to the gallon.
...and i don't have to keep it at 60. 72 during the day, 68 at night. i feel i make up for it in the cool months. i use very little heating. keep windows open through most the cooler months here until the temp outside drops to the 20s. 25 degrees outside? hmm, maybe i'll turn on some heat...
I think you make a good point. Like so many of our "luxuries", air conditioning is over done. Our society has a great big problem with moderation.
Yes, AC is good (it is helping tjb22!), but why not only use it when the temp is very high. Yes, large pickup trucks are useful, but why not only buy one if you absolutely need it. TVs. Food is tasty, but do we need to eat it at a rate that leads 30% of US adults to be obese?
Ok. I'm getting off my soap box now...
I can agree with you here. While I'm horribly heat intolerant and might have died years ago with out air conditioning, I also can't go into a super market or a restaurant without needing a jacket, even when it's 90 degrees outside.
People who rail about a/c don't live in Florida. The heat is so oppressive here it would be impossible for me to live without it. I do have one friend who lives without it in her house...but it is inhuman. I did have a car with no a/c until last year and people thought I was crazy. This summer I have kept the thermostat 2 degrees higher than we usually have it. We haven't suffered. Maybe I'll try one more degree.
Leigh, doesn't it sound weird -- people writing about 20% humidity or less? I live in Florida too, north Florida, and it seems to me that it's been astronomically humid since April, or at the latest early May. We're keeping our thermostats at 78 or higher and have programmable ones, which helps avoid having to sell our birthright to the utility company. But there are some refrigerated restaurants and stores around here, where sweaters are a necessity even in July, which makes no sense to me. My long-range strategy is to move to a more temperate climate when retirement allows...
it isn't the state that votes, it's the people in it. those people would have voted wherever they lived. the electoral college changes things, of course, but if a/c *congregates* conservatives together in a few states, it actually *helps* democrats win the white house. silly, silly writer!
Agreed!
The argument about red states makes no sense. People do not become conservative by moving to a red state. If conservative people had not migrated to Southern states, they would still live somewhere, and they would still be conservative, making whatever state they live in more red. If liberal people move to Southern states, it makes those states more blue.
Cox cannot infer a cause and effect relationship, even if there is a correlation.
Science FAIL!
I agree with Bill Karwin....there is no correlation. a/c in the SE is a necessity for part of the year. Manufacturing never would have made it without a/c in the factories. In NC our summers are thankfully short. We have a/c only on (at 78) mid may to mid sept. Public places keep a/c too cold! Set a record in heart of NC at 102 today...but this is rare! We are full of northern transplants and halfbacks (people who retired from the NE to Fla, and came half-back to NC for the four season climate). They helped NC turn from red to blue in 2008, they did not turn into conservatives once crossing the state line!
"I agree with Bill Karwin....there is no correlation."
_
no, there IS a positive correlation...but NOT cause n effect.
_
think of it this way. there's a positive correlation bet leaves turning brown & people wearing coats outside. but obviously brown leaves do NOT cause people to wear coats.
We loved our a/c in Michigan, too. In our new home in México, we discovered that the homes here have been adapted to the climate. Hardly anyone here has air conditioning or swamp coolers. The brick and cement construction, vaulted ceilings, slanted flat roofs, and where practicable inner courtyards/gardens makes the tropical heat bearable with just a fan, if needed. Outdoor dining is the norm, as well.
The problem back home is that we have homogenized nearly everything. An expanded version of the New England box house works for Michigan, but taking wood-frame construction and traditional house plans to another climate just invites the measures necessary to make those homes more comfortable. If you have ever seen any of the old historic New Orleans' homes and businesses you would note how folks two centuries ago lived with the heat and humidity. And, what developed here in Ajijic works for the Mexican population and the pampered a/c loving foreign guests from the United States and Canada.
As with all things Green, we must change the way we live.
I had the same experience in Israel -- beautiful white stone buildings very close together maximize shade and decrease the need for a/c. Much more comfortable than my native Texas!
I totally agree! I don't have A/C in my apartment and I get along just fine with fans. THere is A/C at work and within 20 minutes of arrivng there, I have a sinus headache and my ears are plugged up!
My other theory worth exploring: one cause of obesity is the leaf blower; no one sweeps any more! Sweeping your sidewalk and porch is good exercise and you can get to know your neighbors in the process. Less air and noise pollution!
>>Yes, perhaps this is true. That's why we have an evaporative cooler in our home. They are 80% more efficient than AC and are far more dependable that AC; that's if you know how to take care of them! "RJM">>
They call those "swamp coolers" around here. They use alot less electricity but alot of water.
Those are great moneysavers if you are lucky to live in an arid climate. Unfortunately with the summer humidity we get here in Illinois (80-90%) our house would be underwater in no time running one of those.
I live in Alabama and it gets pretty hot here but I don't know where people get the idea that people have their A/C turned down to 60 in the summer. We have ours between 72 and 75 in the summer and between 60 and 65 in the winter.
But I have also been thinking about the problems air conditioning causes. If all of China had the air conditioning that the U.S. has, the hole in the ozone layer would triple or something like that. Air conditioning is good for keeping food stored. And we need it for that.
We can still acclimatize pretty quickly actually as our DNA hasn't changed or mutated so that we can't (for now). When I was working in the field as an archeaologist in the Alabama heat every summer, there were a couple of weeks where each day reached over 100 degrees. I was so used to being in the heat that I couldn't use my air conditioning in the car at all as it would make me sick. I kept the a/c at home turned way down during that time. So we still have the ability to acclimate in my opinion. But it would take the entire community and as we can't even get along with our neighbors, much less *other* people, how in the world would we achieve such a thing?
I don't know how people survived in the Houston area before A/C, I really don't, and I'm pretty sure swamp coolers would be completely ineffective in humidity of 90% or greater, much as I loved them when living in the desert. We keep our home at 82 degrees in the summer, 68 in the winter, which I don't see as excessive; actually, it's kind of necessary if you don't want your walls to mold from the constant humidity! Blockbuster and the grocery stores, OTOH.....geez, you have to bundle up and wear earmuffs to stand them in the summer!
I used to live in Houston, so I know a little about its history. The old Victorian business buildings downtown, like the old Victorian houses down in Galveston, have small rooms and very, very high ceiling, to allow hot air to rise up and cooler air to move through the lower part of the room more quickly. We may not think that was much relief, and perhaps it wasn't--back in the pre-industrial day during the summer, downtown Houston was effectively closed for business until fall weather kicked in.
Pre-industrial folks also understood about the cooling effect of trees, which is why is was common back then to build house near large shade trees. You can see still that in older neighborhoods in Houston and Galveston too.
Another pre-A/C idea I came across in Houston was in an old, old Montrose-area 4-plex where I lived for a few years. Underneath the central stairwell was a giant fan that pulled cooler air from the crawl space underneath the building and pushed it up through the entire building. Probably wasn't much help either.
I now live in El Paso, and have an evaporation cooler which only works when the humidity is low. The house was built several decades ago, before urbanization made El Paso more humid than it was back then. But we manage because we can't afford to retrofit this old house with A/C.
I grew up in Mississippi, where the older houses also have great, high ceilings and enormous windows. You open the doors and windows, and it's like you're sailing on a boat.
A lot of those houses had sleeping porches, too. And besides that, my family tells me that before they had air conditioning, they never knew they were hot.
For many people now, living completely without air conditioning is either not realistic or so big a sacrifice that they'd never do it.
Laura, you make an important point. Before AC came into use, people built to suit their climate. And to get the benefits of fresh air. Relying on AC leads to shutting out fresh air, and people get "sick building syndrome" from all the chemicals used inside our homes and workplaces. Asthma is so prevalent now vs. 50 years ago; I wonder how much is chemical sensitivity? Historically, the eradication of hookworm had as much to do with the rise of the modern South as did the use of AC. The lesson here should be that we need to examine mindless use of air conditioning embedded in our building codes and personal demands.
Where to start? Ahh, first, it is really funny logic to argue that without air conditioning there would be fewer conservatives. The conservatives in the south are the old school families that have been running the show there since before the civil war. remember, they are religious and not fans of condoms or abortion and thus grow organically in numbers. If anything, AC is likely serving to bring more moderates southward. I am liberal and living in Arizona and would not be here without AC. Furthermore, when I lived in Boston and New York my 6 months of heating far outweighed my 3 months per year of AC usage.
Air conditioning has allowed people to move to places that are too hot resulting in extra A/C energy requirements and extra water requirements. (The hot places are usually arid as well.)
PLUS +++ Air conditioning use kicks in at the peak heat of the day, overloading the grid, requiring the power companies to use dirty-energy peakers and to build more energy production to handle peak loads than they would otherwise.
Spending hundreds a month every summer on A/C? Move somewhere cooler.
Hugs from that bastion of Left Coast-dom -- San Francisco, the cool, grey City by the Bay.
I am down on the Peninsula and there are definitely some days, like a couple weekends ago, where I would give my left arm for AC. I had AC in one year out of the past ten, when I was in Sacramento. When my mother and I were in living in Iowa, we bought an older home with no AC. My mother lasted about two days before she went to Sears. When I move back to Iowa in a few years, there will be AC, but I remember our power company had a program where you could have them remotely shut off your AC in the middle of the day if more power were needed.
I am moving into an older house again, but this time I get to remodel it, and I am going to try and squeeze every bit of energy efficiency I can out of it, including putting solar panels on the roof and those vertical windmills on the ground level.
Congress also never met in the summer because of the heat.