https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/07/14/air-conditioning-could-save-lives-europe/
By Chelsea Follett – Chelsea Follett is a research fellow at the Cato Institute’s Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity and author of “The Grim Old Days: An Introduction to the Preindustrial Past.”
Excerpt: But even as mortality spikes, Europeans continue to resist the one technology that could save their lives: air conditioning.
Air conditioning is one of modern civilization’s most important yet underappreciated inventions. One study from the National Bureau of Economic Research estimated that the spread of air conditioning in the United States led to a roughly 75 percent decline in heat-related deaths during the 20th century. But policymakers in Europe have discouraged this technology through taxes, regulations and a stubborn refusal to admit its benefits.
The consequences have been tragic. Heat waves kill more than 175,000 Europeans every year, according to the World Health Organization. Eighty percent of the continent’s population does not have AC. In the United States, almost 90 percent does.
The rules limiting AC use in Europe come in many forms. Heritage permit requirements imposed by countries such as Austria, Germany and Hungary, which were originally created to protect historic buildings, have delayed AC installations even in non-historic ones. Several countries require AC installation to be approved by the equivalent of a homeowners association or impose noise ordinances that increase compliance costs and paperwork.
In Geneva, air conditioning requires a permit, and residents must show they need one — usually by presenting a medical certificate. Slovakia demands periodic AC inspections that create a perpetual compliance burden. Local planning councils in Britain regularly reject AC installation requests, citing a need to limit noise and preserve community aesthetics.
Among the minority of Europeans fortunate enough to enjoy air conditioning, some are being forced to give it up. In Britain, where only about 3 percent of homes have air conditioning, laws restricting “active cooling” technology have forced some homeowners to remove their AC systems.
Though localities cite many reasons for opposing air conditioning installation, Europe’s broader war on AC is largely due to the belief that this technology is an energy-guzzling and wasteful luxury.
In 2021, Emmanuelle Wargon, who is now the president of the French Energy Regulatory Commission, said cooling systems present “a significant problem in terms of energy consumption.” During a heat wave in 2022, María Isabel Ruiz, a Spanish civil servant, told a European news outlet she was “in favor of saving energy and that this requires sacrifices” even as she criticized regulations that at one point prohibited thermostats from being set below 80 degrees.
But as European countries fret over energy consumption, modern AC systems have become increasingly energy efficient. The U.S. Energy Information Administration notes that even as the share of U.S. homes with AC has increased, average household energy use has declined, partly thanks to “improved efficiencies of … cooling equipment.”
…
Humanity now knows how to cool buildings with technology and that the best way to treat heatstroke is rapid cooling, not bloodletting.
AC opponents like to imagine they are leading humanity toward a wiser, more sustainable future. But forgoing air conditioning is a refusal to move on from a lethally hot past.
