The recent COP27 climate summit apparently produced a rash of optimism but not for me. Saturday afternoon I was at the Miami Book Fair listening to the poets Robert Pinsky and Campbell McGrath in a frigid auditorium. I knew to bring a sweater – I have taught in Building 8 of Miami Dade College, where my students were urged to bring sweaters when they registered – but I was still cold. Hania, who also wore a sweater, said that her discomfort was so great it distracted her from the conversation.
Over-the-top air-conditioning is not unique to MDC; it is found all over South Florida. It is why I keep a sweater in the car, which I put on in most movie theaters, shopping malls, restaurants, doctors’ offices. It is the most egregious and maddening waste of energy, doing damage to the environment while making people uncomfortable. We are all now conscious of our carbon footprint, made to feel guilty for unnecessary air travel. While unnecessary energy is being spent to make us cold. There is absolutely no reason for it. And yet nobody talks about it.
