Europeans and Americans have long differed on many issues, but a quieter division appears every summer when they visit each other's continents. Europeans touring America complain about frigidly air-conditioned shops and restaurants, while Yanks holidaying in Europe expect cool comfort and grow surly on finding that many old-world buildings require them to sweat and bear it.
The divide is rooted in both climate and culture. Southern Europe was built to handle heat, with traditional houses featuring white paint, shaded courtyards, and siestas to skip the hottest hours. Northern Europe, meanwhile, is mostly spared the problem, with June days often cold enough for a knitted sweater.
However, climate change is putting such attitudes to the test. Europe is expecting a broiling summer, and heat contributes to around 175,000 deaths a year on the continent. Yet Europeans who think first-world lifestyles are largely to blame for global warming may feel pangs of carbon guilt about equipping their houses with air-conditioning.
But they needn't. The impressive build-out of renewable energy in Europe's hottest places means that judiciously dialling down the temperature will not do much to melt the glaciers. Spain, for example, has grown its solar capacity nearly tenfold in the past decade, with a kilowatt-hour of Spanish electricity producing just 86 grams of CO2 equivalent.
Not all of Europe can congratulate itself, however. Poland remains heavily reliant on coal, while Germany's decision to eliminate nuclear power has left it dependent on coal and gas. Britain falls somewhere in between.
Climate morality aside, many on the old continent fret about how to pay for cranking up the aircon dial. Americans are roughly a third richer than Europeans, and their household electricity costs about half as much. But European homes are smaller than American ones, and use about a third as much electricity on average.
Moreover, the solar boom means that power is not just greener but cheaper on hot, sunny afternoons. Setting the dishwasher to run overnight can free up room in one's budget to cool off the home before going to bed. Smart meters make this sort of demand-shifting easier.
The war in Iran has driven up fossil-fuel prices, but in parts of Europe (notably France and Spain) electricity bills have risen much less. That reflects smart policies. After the war in Ukraine, many Europeans not only throttled their use of Russian gas, but reduced reliance on it in general.
Voters might consider rewarding politicians who made good decisions. They are probably best equipped to bring Europe the vast expansion of power capacity it needs for the future.
