PARIS DEPUTY MAYOR TOLD AMERICANS ‘ENOUGH WITH THE LECTURE’
A Paris deputy mayor told Americans mocking the city’s lack of air conditioning to stop lecturing during a deadly heat wave.
Audrey Pulvar, 54, the city’s deputy mayor for international relations, posted a lengthy statement on June 26, 2026, Asiae reported.
In it, she blamed the United States for the deadly heat wave in France, FOX 5 New York reported.
Her target was a wave of American journalists and social media influencers who had been poking fun at Paris for not having A/C in every room.
“Dear American journalists and social media ‘influencers’: for days, some of you have been criticizing and making fun of Paris because the city does not have A/C in every room. OMG, this is so rich!”
That is how Pulvar opened the statement, FOX 5 reported.
What Pulvar said
Pulvar argued that air conditioning “contributes and aggravates the problem” of global warming.
She then turned the blame across the Atlantic. “As the second-largest emitter of greenhouse gas emissions in the world, you bear a significant amount of responsibility for global warming and the consequences we, in France, are experiencing,” she wrote.
“Your cities ‘90% air-conditioned’ are not unrelated to this. In Paris, we take responsibility.”
Pulvar said Paris had spent the past quarter century working to cut air pollution, add urban greenery, make buildings more energy efficient and change its transportation systems, The Chosun Daily reported. The paper described her as responsible for international, European and Francophone affairs.
“If every American city made the same ecological transition efforts as Paris and many European cities, believe me, the whole world would be better off,” she wrote.
She signed off with: “So please, enough with the lecture. Just start doing your part. Best regards,”
The heat behind the fight
Paris temperatures climbed above 104°F during the heat wave. At least 48 people in France drowned while trying to cool off outside designated swimming areas, FOX 5 reported.
The Chosun Daily attributed the heat to a northward-moving “Omega heat dome” from the Sahara Desert.
Only about one in four French households had an air conditioner, and portable units sold out at electronics stores during the spell.
What happened next
Pulvar was not the only Paris official to push back on air conditioning. Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire called for flexibility and alternatives such as better insulation, USA Today reported.
“Individual air conditioning is a scourge,” Grégoire said.
USA Today also noted that air conditioning is considered an effective way to prevent heat-related deaths, especially among older people and children.
As the weeks passed, the focus shifted to the human toll. The New York Post reported estimates of roughly 1,000 excess deaths tied to the heat wave. It added that the final toll could take months to calculate.
On October 15, 2026, International Business Times reported that France was still assessing the toll, with estimates topping 1,300 excess deaths since late June.
