We covered to original decision to forego air conditioning here.
The 2024 Paris Olympics are shaping up to be an event filled with athletic prowess and, unsurprisingly, a hefty dose of virtue signaling. The recent announcement that air conditioning will not be provided at the Olympic venues is a prime example. In a bid to flaunt their environmental consciousness, the organizers have decided to rely on “sustainable” cooling methods, leaving teams to fend for themselves in the sweltering Parisian summer. And fend they did! Teams are now bringing their own portable air conditioners, making a mockery of the original intent and highlighting the absurdity of the decision.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has been quite vocal about her commitment to making the 2024 Olympics an exemplar of environmental responsibility. The decision to forgo traditional air conditioning in favor of passive cooling techniques is touted as a major step toward reducing the event’s carbon footprint. According to Hidalgo, “These Games will be the first ones with a positive contribution to the climate” and are committed to “innovative solutions that are carbon neutral”.
But let’s be clear: sustainability, as currently promoted, is a nebulous concept that often amounts to nothing more than vapid virtue signaling. It’s an easy catchphrase, with no real objective definition for politicians and organizers who want to appear forward-thinking. The idea that passive cooling could sufficiently counteract the summer heat in Paris is more of a fanciful notion than a feasible plan.
Instead of applauding this so-called innovation, teams are responding with pragmatism. The U.S. teams, for instance, have decided to bring their own portable air conditioning units to ensure their athletes perform at their best. This reaction not only makes sense but also underscores the glaring disconnect between the idealistic aspirations of the organizers and the on-ground realities of hosting a global sporting event.
“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.
https://apnews.com/article/olympics-air-conditioning-paris-0f753df91956f3fe61ad4febaff0ebb9#
One can almost hear the collective sigh of relief from the athletes who won’t have to pretend that sweating profusely in high temperatures is a symbol of their commitment to the planet. “The Games’ organizers have said air-conditioned rooms are not environmentally sustainable and can emit up to 100 grams of CO2 per hour, per square meter, into the atmosphere”. Yet, it’s the athletes who are left to deal with the consequences of this flawed policy.
The irony here is palpable. While the organizers pat themselves on the back for their green policies, the reality is that the burden of maintaining comfort has simply been shifted to the teams themselves. Portable air conditioning units are not exactly emissions-free, and their widespread use by multiple teams will likely offset any environmental gains touted by the organizers. The supposed environmental benefits of these “sustainable” measures evaporate in the face of practical needs.
The decision to forego air conditioning highlights the hypocrisy underlying many green policies. The optics of virtue signaling often overshadow practical solutions. By focusing on symbolic gestures rather than substantive changes, the Paris Olympics organizers have inadvertently highlighted the limitations and impracticalities of their approach. The statement from the organizers that they are “pioneering new cooling systems” using “natural ventilation, shades, and water spray systems” sounds impressive, but falls short when considering the actual comfort of the athletes and spectators.
The decision to forgo air conditioning at the Paris Olympics was meant to signal a commitment to sustainability. Instead, it has become a case study in the absurdity of virtue signaling when divorced from practical considerations. The teams’ choice to bring their own air conditioning units is a pragmatic response to an ill-conceived policy, demonstrating that when it comes to high-stakes events like the Olympics, realism and practicality prevail over performative environmentalism.
H/T moriarty
The only organizations dumber than a national organization is an international organization. France should be excluded from ever hosting another Olympic event and Paris in particular.
At least until they become sane again.
For EVER.
They are who they are and have earned the loss of even the opportunity to host again.
IMHO the games should not be held this year in France but should be moved to a sane local. Cancel all the hotel rooms, restaurant plans, clothing sales, etc. and let that idiot mayor explain to all the businesses and employees why the massive influx of CASH is not coming.
I love it. The mean daily temperature in Paris is 25.7C ? That is a couple degrees above normal room temperature. In Texas, 25.7C would be a cooler than usual dawn temperature.
Nonetheless, while bowing to the Green movement they are giving the finger to the DEI zealots in that air conditioning is no longer equitable where wealthy countries have aircon and athletes from poor countries do not. I hope that there are riots.
I can imagine the caravan of 18-wheelers arriving on site with roadies piling up air conditioning units and other accessories reminiscent of a Pink Floyd concert x 10 in tons of equipment and gear. Then what do they do with the units after the event?
I hope that they have access to the circuit breaker / fuse box during the discovery of how much electrical load the individual rooms can handle.
Of course, no one is going to be flying in private jets to the venue for any part of this spectacle. Black ink vs Red Ink, where the athletes cost money, better to virtue signal where the Black Ink doesn’t have to have any real skin in the game.
Air conditioners, whether installed or portable, only work by moving heat energy from inside to outside. In rooms not constructed to provide for, it can only be achieved by opening a door or window to the outside to allow the heat carrying structure to pass through. In many, if not most cases, sealing around the exit tubing may be difficult to impossible.This obviously increases the burden upon the equipment and the electricity supply because considerable hot air is likely to enter the room through the same opening.
duck tape can cover most unsealable openings
The mean temp might be 25.7C, but that’s not the possible normal range. Olympic athletes can’t wait for cooler temperatures to rest – they have a fixed competition schedule.
Something isn’t right in these stories – something has to give or
there is going to be a real mess when the small A/C units overload circuits and circuit breakers start popping. Surely, someone has thought about this? Unless, of course, the athlete housing is wired for A/C units in every room, just not installed.
Have to wonder if the Paris grid could handle millions of AC units fired up all at once on top of the draw for public venues. I spent a week in a Paris suburb where my wife blew the home’s old fashioned fuse by using a hair dryer. We had to call the owner and she kindly came to replace it. I admired their taste in art which included a two foot nude group photo of the woman and her two beautiful adult daughters hung prominently on the wall. She thought nothing unusual. Ah, Paris!
“City of Lights Goes Dark” not a good look.
Millions of A/C units fired up ?
the olympic village is around 14,000 person accomodation, not all single rooms
hardly make a blip in a massive city of 8 mill.
Plus the french have massive nuclear generated power as a stable reliable baseload , not this variable wind or sun
Diesel generators.
Yep.. RICH countries will bring their own, put them on the roof with a helicopter along with the diesel to run them.
It brings up a second question. I don’t travel out of the country so does France use 110 or 220 volts? If they don’t get it right, the units aren’t going to work.
Standard is 220V 50 Hz.
1-phase 230 Volts & 3-phase 380v; both at 50 Hz.
Just like the rest of Europe, the voltage in France is 230 volts and the frequency is 50 Hz.
https://www.worldstandards.eu/electricity/plug-voltage-by-country/france/
If the wiring isn’t heavy duty enough, multiple air conditioners running at once could easily lead to fires.
Do you really believe they didn’t think about that?
If increasing heat is supposedly going to be such a problem at this year’s Olympics and future ones, the solution should be simple: just schedule them for spring or fall when such weather is less likely to occur. Tokyo held the 1964 Summer Games mainly in mid-October so that the heat and humidity of the Asian monsoon would have fewer negative effects. Beijing proposed staging the 2008 Games in mid-September for essentially the same reason, but the US TV network (NBC? CBS? ABC?) which had the broadcast rights demanded they be held in August because it didn’t want them interfering with the baseball pennant races and beginning of the football season. So the logical thing to do is staring the organizers in the faces; yet it’s not registering in their minds. Another irony is that if Paris is so concerned about A/C use, why isn’t the city demanding that the hotels and restaurants shut theirs off during the Games as well, or maybe it’s mainly concerned about the reaction from tourists and residents.
So the Paris Agreement is bring your own AC if you want a proper living environment for your athletes?
AC isnt a thing for the french , unlike the US – which has most of the country in a hotter climate
Europe is farther north- Wokeachusetts is at the same latitude as Rome. I think the UK is at the same latitude as Labrador.
Fun adder. Mayor Hildalgo also committed to make the Seine swimmable for the Paris Olympics—even though no Olympic swimming events will be held there for obvious reasons—and spent €1 billion trying. She and Macron were going to celebrate by swimming in it today.
Alas, the virtue signalling event was cancelled yesterday. A number of Parisians incensed by this huge waste of their money started a web movement a few days ago to just crap in the Seine, which many did. Far more effective than Just Stop Oil and the like. Shit hit the (Seine) fan.
Romantic, though. They have to tear down the fences that become so laden with padlocks that they pose a threat to the “love-lock bridge”.
Definitely virtue signalling as they would only be going through the motions
An earlier article I read said the general rules for the athletes included instructions to use
only minimal lighting, keep the shades drawn, and avoid physical activity in the buildings, Temperatures could thus be kept to the low to mid 80s.
What are the chances with thousands of teenage athletes?
Then there is the question of total building occupancy and the amount of heat generated by how many hundreds or thousands of 98+ F bodes, even at rest. Was that factored correctly into building plans?
“avoid physical activity in the buildings”
no sex?
🤣🤣🤣
Your comment may have floated by a few readers
There was a movie “Hildalgo” which was fun to watch. Hildalgo was the name of the horse. The actor that played Aragorn in Lord of the Rings (Viggo Mortensen) was the star.
Presented as a Hollywood version of a real event but, it really really happened.
The real life character “Aragorn” played made it up and was believed at the time.
There was no such race.
TYPO.
“Presented as a Hollywood version of a real event but, it really really happened.”
Should be”
“Presented as a Hollywood version of a real event but, it NEVER really happened.”
(The time window to edit had expired before I saw it.
Even with spellcheck and an “Edit” function, I still manage to mess up!) 😎
And of course, the hypocritical politicians & Olympic organizers made this edict from the comfort of air-conditioned buildings that they travel between in air-conditioned
carslimousines, and travel the world in air-conditioned private jets; still, they are doing it to save the planet !!!Doesn’t France get the overwhelming majority of their electricity from nuclear, which is a zero carbon emission source? Why is air conditioning bad for the environment?
It’s an empty gesture,
… like a phantom pregnancy !!
About 75%.
Haven’t you heard? Air conditions are worse than weapons of mass destruction!
The problem with US is we have something to lose. X rebellion idiots have NOTHING since they are not productive members of society.
I WE could act without spending years in jail and being required to provide restitution, the act should be to continuously and at every turn destroy the political virtue signalers’ ACs and ICE vehicles and refrigerators and freezers and stoves and ovens and destroying their synthetic clothes and shoes and and.
“The Games’ organizers have said air-conditioned rooms are not environmentally sustainable and can emit up to 100 grams of CO2 per hour, per square meter, into the atmosphere”.
Dare I ask how much CO2 per hour an athlete might emit?
About 100 g/hr during training and competition.
Frances electricity is about 70% nuclear generation.
does the organising committee even know this ?
“These Games will be the first ones with a positive contribution to the climate”
So, the 1960 games (and all previous ones) were housing athletes in air conditioned housing and venues had air conditioning? Give us all a break!
I hope all those attending these games have left home in their seal-skin kayaks (if from overseas) or have begun the walk to Paris in thier wooden clogs and hessian clothing order to be there on time
If Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo really wants to make a statement about being an exemplar of environmental responsibility, she’d cancel the event altogether. The notion that an event on the scale of the Olympics could be “a positive contribution to the climate” is laughable. If we are indeed living a “climate crisis” as these people argue, then there is no excuse for allowing the games to go forward.
+100 – the whole “no AC thing” is just virtue signaling. Screw the athletes, smile for the cameras of the idiot media, and then they go home to their air conditioned mansions.
It never ceases to amaze me how deep the levels of stupidity can go. Especially when it comes to those with the actual power to implement such absurdly dumb ideas.
Then there’s the fact that portable ACs are far less efficient than central air. Then add the “carbon footprint” of hauling those ACs there and back. It is ludicrous. Not that it matters one whit, but they have actually increased the carbon footprint of the games instead of lowering them.
The greenest olympics are no olympics if you believe there’s a climate crisis and the world is going to end. I can’t tell how good passive cooling works or what the carbon footprint of passive versus active is. Now I’m thinking about the power grid, portable ac requires power. But I don’t care about the olympics.
I love air conditioners. Especially at night to sleep better. I even love the sound of them- which also helps me sleep. And, my chronic sinus problem gets relief with the AC. I have 3 in my house- a big one in our “big room” and 2 portable units I can move around as needed.
While the organizers pat themselves on the back for their green policies, the reality is that the burden of maintaining comfort has simply been shifted to the teams themselves.
Absolutely. Some years ago when I had an insurance broker as a client, one of the insurance companies switched to digital-only policies and statements, then congratulated themselves on ‘saving paper.’ I pointed out that all they had done was shift the cost of printing to the brokers.
I wonder if the Olympic administrative offices are ACed?