LONDON — The spate of heat waves that left Europe sweaty and irate has by now largely passed. But a debate in Britain that could become a political wedge issue over air conditioning is only just getting started.
Advocates for wider AC installation argue that increasing its adoption could raise living standards and productivity for a Labour government keen to make gains with frustrated voters and, perhaps counterintuitively, even advance the transition to net zero — while a failure to do so may mean it becomes politically damaging in the future.
Parties taking up the cause may too find their own dividends, as polling indicates growing public support for AC, which may increase as Britain gets hotter. Support for the wider implementation of the cooling units has already reached 43 percent, according to polling by More in Common.
But politicians and policy wonks getting hot and bothered about beating the heat face reams of red tape to make AC go mainstream.
