It will no longer be possible to air-condition the sidewalks of Paris. By a municipal decree issued this Friday, Anne Hidalgo requires “air-conditioned businesses to keep their doors closed, in order to put an end to this aberrant practice in the current context of climate emergency and energy crisis”. Because indeed, it is known that air conditioning a closed place requires less energy than an open place. Who has never heard in the car: “Close your window, I’m putting on the air conditioning”?
Obviously, for a business, keeping doors closed is not ideal for attracting customers. Especially since in the event of high temperatures, a passer-by could be hooked by the coolness coming from the store and thus turn into a potential consumer. Anyway, businesses will have to choose between air conditioning or open doors from next Monday, in three days.
In its press release, the town hall of Paris recalls that a similar measure has already been taken in Lyon and Bourg-en-Bresse and cannot resist the urge to send a small spade to the executive in place: “As a reminder , this measure had been proposed by the Citizen Climate Convention and could have been implemented much earlier by a government decree”. It does not refresh, but it relieves.