The U.S. Olympic team is one of a handful that will supply air conditioners for their athletes at the Paris Games in a move that undercuts organizers’ plans to cut carbon emissions.
U.S. Olympic and Paralympic CEO Sarah Hirshland said Friday that while the U.S. team appreciates efforts aimed at sustainability, the federation would be supplying AC units for what is typically the largest contingent of athletes at the Summer Games.
“As you can imagine, this is a period of time in which consistency and predictability is critical for Team USA’s performance,” Hirshland said. “In our conversations with athletes, this was a very high priority and something that the athletes felt was a critical component in their performance capability.”
The Washington Post reported earlier this month that Germany, Australia, Italy, Canada and Britain were among the other countries with plans to bring air conditioners to France.
I have a wild idea here. What if, they didn’t build an entire Olympic sports complex with multiple stadiums and other infrastructure every 2 years around the globe? Maybe that would save a bit on carbon emissions. And hey, the billions that would have gone to building that complex? Maybe that could go toward building up renewable energy resources instead.
But no that’s crazy, it’s the portable air conditioning units for some athlete’s apartments that are the problem. /s
Though some props to Paris, it sounds like they didn’t have nearly the amount of insane new constructions that some Olympics have had. Sounds like only one major new venue with most venues being used already pre-existing.
I think it would be helpful for many people to experience the world without the luxury of ac. It uses a huge amount of power and in most places it’s just a convenience. I haven’t run the AC in something like 18 months not. It’s been in the upper 90s here in the states and my house has gotten up to about 86 inside. I work outside so even a few degrees cooler feels great. At night with a couple fans in the window it goes back down to mid 70s.
I understand that some places get a lot hotter and corporations are to blame for a larger percentage of our climate issue, but we shouldn’t expect to live in luxury while the planet catches on fire around us. All that said I think people would give more of a fuck if they didn’t sit around all day in a climate controlled environment.
I wanna see you going to sleep on 35c and 85% humidity
You’re probably right, better just put my head back in the sand and hope the world burns down around me and leaves me in tact. Guess there’s nothing we can do.
I hope you’re vegan
why?
Because it’s better for the environment and can be done healthily, unlike flirting with heart stroke for no reason lol
being vegan has no effect on the environment
Lol sure thing buddy, whatever you got to tell yourself
The geothermal energy system will ensure that the temperature in the athlete apartments in the Seine-Saint-Denis suburb does not rise above 26 degrees Celsius (79 degrees Fahrenheit) at night
Sorry, but fuck that. Hopefully the system will help the ACs that everyone will need to bring to use less power though.
Ok, maybe I’m just spoiled somehow, but that’s REALLY high for sleeping. If it’s over about 72 I just straight-up cannot sleep. I can flex that a little with good airflow and low humidity (windows open).
I can’t possible imagine having to sleep in that temp after a full day of strenuous physical activity. I guess if you were somehow used to it but that seems crazy.
Furthermore, does this cooling strategy (minus the AC units shipped in) even come close to offsetting the burned fossil fuels to actually move all these athletes to another country and set up the games? Asking cause that seems kinda relevant…
