Ah, the politics of keeping cool. First day of July and already France and parts of Europe are enduring their second major heatwave with no respite: from the shores of the Mediterranean warmed by waters at an alarming 26 degrees Celsius to the rooftop of Europe, Mont Blanc where the mercury’s got no business venturing above freezing this early in the summer… how to adapt to the new normal?
With poorly adapted schools forced to shut, the far-right’s Marine Le Pen advocates air conditioning for all. But A/C begets higher energy consumption… and with the same far-right against wind farms and the switch away from gasoline-powered cars, a basic necessity or do alternatives exist on the planet’s fastest-heating continent?
We’ll ask about France’s claim that nuclear power’s the carbon-free answer: just look at the Golfech plant between Toulouse and Bordeaux, forced to suspend activity because at 28 degrees Celsius, the Garonne River’s waters are too hot to cool its reactors.
Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip, Yann Pusztai.
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Yamina SAHEB President, World Sufficiency Lab
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Thierry BROS Professor, Sciences Po Paris & Member of the EU-Russia Gas Advisory Council
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Alexandre FLORENTIN City Councillor
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Martin DUPLANTIER Architect, Martin Duplantier Architectes agency
English (US) · 