The idea that using air conditioning to endure heat waves in the summer is somehow a “viscous cycle” because using more natural gas will then cause more heat waves is so juvenile as to not be worthy of a high school science essay.
And yet, here it is featured in @washingtonpost https://t.co/2aYhQrimeU
— John Ziegler (@Zigmanfreud) July 28, 2023
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/07/28/natural-gas-heat-waves-climate/
‘Vicious cycle’: Heat waves ramp up U.S. burning of fossil fuels – Americans, cranking up their air conditioners, are helping to break summertime records for daily consumption of natural gas, a contributor to climate change
Excerpt: As temperatures have soared, so has consumption of natural gas, burned for the electricity needed to run air conditioners across much of the Northern Hemisphere. The United States this week has twice broken its summertime record for daily gas consumption, and it could break it again Friday, according to estimates from S&P Global Commodity Insights.
The trends illustrate how extreme heat is complicating efforts by the United States and other countries to phase down use of fossil fuels, despite how these fuels contribute to climate change and more intense heat waves. While the build-out of renewable energy is increasing, the world’s power grids are so reliant on gas and coal that burning more of them — and thus producing more planet-warming emissions — is often the only way to cool buildings and protect people from life-threatening conditions.
“The projection for how much energy you need is higher and higher because the cooling needs to go up,” said Jason Bordoff, founding director of the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University. “There are these tragic ironies all over the climate space.”
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UPI reported: The Biden administration has announced plans to continue its reduction of hydrofluorocarbons, releasing a new rule that aims to cut the United States’ use of the greenhouse gases by almost half starting next year. Hydrofluorocarbon is a category of greenhouse gases used for refrigeration and air-conditioning as well as in a number of other applications, but is linked to global warming. The final rule announced Tuesday by the Environmental Protection Agency will reduce HFC consumption in the United States based on historic levels by 40% between 2024 and 2028.
Climate Champion Bernie Sanders Demands Ridiculously Cold Air Conditioning of 60 degrees F
Sanders preferred ultra-low temperatures of just 60 degrees F … In addition to blasting the air conditioning during warmer weather, according to the book, Sanders also much preferred taking trips on board private jets — a surprising revelation about a Congressman who has consistently called for action on climate change and more recently endorsed the Green New Deal.
Flying Private: “Charter flights were a revelation to him,” Dovere wrote in the book, as quoted by Fox News. “He would always be a little embarrassed pulling into the private terminals, but boy, did he get a kick out of not worrying about being late for a flight that couldn’t take off without him.”
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Kerry: Regulating refrigerator chemicals are ‘of equal importance’ to battling ISIS
Time Mag: “AC Feels Great, But It’s Terrible for the Planet. Here’s How to Fix That.”
Excerpt: “The troubled history of air-conditioning suggests not that we chuck it entirely but that we focus on public cooling, on public comfort, rather than individual cooling, on individual comfort. Ensuring that the most vulnerable among the planet’s human inhabitants can keep cool through better access to public cooling centers, shade-giving trees, safe green spaces, water infrastructure to cool, and smart design will not only enrich our cities overall, it will lower the temperature for everyone. It’s far more efficient this way.
To do so, we’ll have to re-orient ourselves to the meaning of air-conditioning. And to comfort. Privatized air-conditioning survived the ozone crisis, but its power to separate—by class, by race, by nation, by ability—has survived, too. Comfort for some comes at the expense of the life on this planet. It’s time we become more comfortable with discomfort. Our survival may depend on it.”
