During this heatwave in Europe, aside from the stark contrast between European politicians and ordinary citizens' demands, environmentalists' statements also present an intriguing observation.
The first to come under scrutiny is the renowned Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg.
As usual, when facing the current scorching heatwave, this young woman has once again focused her attention on "systemic critique."
Rather than directly criticizing ordinary people for rushing to buy air conditioners, she seized the opportunity of the extreme heat to launch another fierce attack on governments across North America and Europe:
"Heatwaves exceeding 40°C are just the beginning—a rapidly escalating crisis for human survival. Yet politicians continue to bury their heads in the sand, pretending everything can carry on as usual."
In Thunberg’s logic, high temperatures and people's forced reliance on air conditioning are both consequences of a "failed system." Humanity is walking blindly toward a cliff, and the solution isn't buying a few more air conditioners—it requires completely dismantling outdated energy contracts and fundamentally ending our dependence on fossil fuels.
This conviction was already evident during her trip to Gaza; now it’s been reaffirmed again—her argument forms a perfect, self-contained loop!
Yet, in the face of extreme heat, ordinary people simply want relief from the heat—they don’t care about grand theories.
Next comes Germany’s Green Party.
This is perhaps the most interesting and obvious political shift emerging during this summer’s heatwave in 2026: rather than opposing air conditioning, they have openly and strongly called for its widespread adoption.
As an opposition party, the German Greens quickly seized this moment to strike. On one hand, predictably, they launched a fierce criticism of the government, accusing officials of “sitting in air-conditioned offices while ignoring the suffering of ordinary people.”
On the other hand, they avoided falling into the old ideological trap of claiming “air conditioning is not environmentally friendly.” Instead, they adapted to technological realities by proposing a remarkably shrewd green solution: using surplus, cheap solar power generated in summer to run air conditioners and heat pumps, with national financial subsidies enabling large-scale installation of the “solar + air conditioning/heat pump” combination.
Since the electricity is green, there’s no longer any carbon guilt associated with cooling the air.
This strategic move successfully undermines opponents, wins public favor, and still maintains their green credentials—political calculation at its finest.
Behind the scenes, however, the Green Party’s popularity had already dropped to just 11.6% in the 2025 general election. If they continued promoting the idea that “for the sake of the environment, air conditioners must not be used” during such a sweltering summer, they would face a devastating electoral backlash.
Thus, this flexible stance has at least managed to prevent further electoral collapse.
Since its invention, air conditioning has never been so closely tied to politics.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1869596152291328/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.