A senior official in the Socialist-run government of Paris has blamed the United States and its abundance of air conditioners for the heat wave that has descended upon the French capital and throughout Western Europe.
Deputy-Mayor of Paris for International, European, and Francophone Relations, Audrey Pulvar, complained that American journalists and social media influencers were “making fun” of Paris for its lack of modern amenities, as Parisians and tourists alike suffered under sweltering conditions last week, often without the relief of air conditioning.
“OMG, this is so rich!” the Socialist Party politician expounded on social media. “As the second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world, you bear a significant responsibility for global warming and the consequences we, in France, are experiencing.”
“Your cities, ‘90% air-conditioned,’ are not unrelated to this,” Pulvar proclaimed.
The Caribbean-born former television presenter boasted that Paris has taken measures over the past 25 years to reduce air pollution, to “green the city, to renovate for energy efficiency, and to transform transportation”.
“We are reducing our environmental footprint AND adapting the city, at the same time, to the short-, medium-, and long term. It’s not a one shot issue. If every American city made the same ecological transition efforts as Paris and many European cities, believe me, the whole world would be better off,” she claimed.
“So please, enough with the lecture. Just start doing your part. Best regards,” the leftist deputy mayor concluded.
While the United States remains the second-largest emitter of carbon dioxide in the world, behind Communist China and likely soon to be overtaken by India, America has seen the sharpest decline of any nation in the world, including the entire 27 countries of the European Union combined, since the start of the century.
Although the EU has also seen reductions from its costly and economically questionable green policies, the U.S. achieved a greater reduction, in part, due to the increased use of natural gas following the fracking boom, a technology banned throughout much of Europe.
The United States also has significantly fewer heat-related deaths per year than Europe. In 2024, for example, 62,700 heat-related deaths were recorded across Europe, according to the Barcelona Institute of Global Health. In comparison, there were an estimated 2,394 heat-related deaths recorded in America in 2024.
During last week’s heat wave, French authorities said they recorded more than 1,000 excess deaths above the average for the past two months, largely due to the heat.
Despite the deadly consequences of the lack of air conditioning in the city, Socialist Paris Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire has also come out against widespread adoption by individuals, calling the use of air conditioners in private residences a “scourge” and claiming they raise the city’s overall temperature.
This puts the leftist government of Paris largely out of step with the French public; however, eight in ten French voters say air conditioning should be installed as standard in schools, nursing homes, housing, and transport. Currently, just one in four homes in France has air conditioning installed.
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