What France gets wrong about air conditioning

As France endures a brutal heatwave this week, an unlikely villain has emerged: air conditioning. According to France 24, the country's environment minister is horrified at the prospect of widespread adoption, while schools, hospitals, and care homes struggle with the heat. France has long resisted AC—a skepticism that bewilders much of the world. Adoption is rising, but remains mired in politics, complicated by the challenges of retrofitting systems into historic towns and cities. The question lingers: will this week's brutal temperatures finally shift French attitudes, or will ideology trump comfort?

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