Last week President Obama announced an ambitious plan to reduce emissions. His clean power plan targets emissions from old power plants that disproportionately pollute the air. Obama’s plan is intended not only to shut down the dirtiest plants, but also to incentivize those companies that have been working to identify and capture clean energy sources like wind and solar.When I was a law student I interned with the Clean Air Task Force (CATF) in its Boston office, so it was particularly gratifying for me to see this new policy put in place. The staff at CATF has been focused for decades on shutting down the biggest polluters, and it is great to see this issue being tackled at the highest level of government. All that grass roots organizing and painstaking legal strategizing is finally paying off. As I was reading up on emissions issues, I found it interesting to note that while power plants are a huge contributor to emissions, 31% of greenhouse gases each year, there are many other sources of pollution we could be grappling with. Yes, carpooling was of course at the front of my mind, but I actually started thinking about another domestic source of emissions–air conditioning.
Wading in a stream– a great old fashioned way to cool off.
Growing up in Cambridge, Massachusetts in a house built in 1870, we had no air conditioning. My school was not air conditioned and the only places from childhood that I can remember having air conditioning were the supermarket and the movie theater. When it was hot in the summer we stayed in the shade outside or played in the basement, which stayed cool. My parents, in a quintessentially Cambridge way, have adapted over the years by installing two window air conditioning units, so they now have two cooled rooms on hot summer days. But their house is a rarity. Most houses I visit these days have central AC, and it is COLD in those houses. Why have we all adapted to needing such cold houses in the summer?
Currently air conditioning in the US produces 100 million tons of CO2 emissions from power plants each year. As temperatures rise in the coming decades, AC use is only going to increase. Is there a way for us all to be more conscious of its use? Just last night, as I was contemplating this blog post, I realized that my AC was running, even though it was a lovely 74F outside. So I turned off the AC and opened all the windows and doors. It was a beautiful night and the cicadas were singing in the trees. With summer flying by I was so glad to hear the sounds of summer and feel the warmth in the air. Interestingly not only is air conditioning bad for the environment, it also may be bad for us–some new studies suggest that increased use of air conditioning is linked to weight gain. Bodies that are working to stay cool in hot environments burn more calories, and hot people also eat less. As is so often the case, what is bad for the environment is also not good for our health, both now and in the future. Maybe it is time to turn off the AC and find some cool breezes and deep shade outside.
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