Since this year, outdoor heaters on terraces of bars and restaurants have been banned. Because yes, heating outside is a deviation. So why without hesitation accept an equally absurd practice of air-conditioning the exterior in scorching weather? This is what Dan Lert, assistant to the mayor of Paris in charge of the ecological transition, wondered when he noted that, despite the stifling temperatures, the overwhelming number of companies continue to leave their doors open and cheerfully let the conditioned air and warm air. escape enter their shops… So, soon a ban in the capital?
Since Monday 18 July, the city of Bourg-en-Bresse is the first in France to ban companies from leaving their doors open when the heating or air conditioning is inside. Since the entry into force of this decree in the prefecture of Ain, any violation is now punishable by a fine of 38 euros. Asked by AFP, Jean-François Debat, the mayor of Bourg-en-Bresse justifies: “I have always considered it a waste and in the current period I find that this waste has become unbearable and unbearable”.
What if Paris followed in the footsteps of the pioneering city?
At least that’s what Dan Lert suggests in a tweet published on July 17. The chosen one says he is indignant “to see the irresponsibility of air-conditioned companies that leave the door open”, just as the thermometer panics and the energy crisis rages on. According to the deputy mayor of Paris in charge of ecological transition, the city of Paris “will study all legal means to end this anomalous use of air conditioning.”
In the heat wave and energy crisis, I am shocked at the irresponsibility of air-conditioned companies that leave the door open! @Paris will study all legal means to put an end to this aberrant use of air conditioning. https://t.co/DINYPB6XcU
— Dan Lert (@danlert) July 17, 2022
“We’ll see if we can make the same decision, declares the chosen ones Huffington Post. We believe it is necessary to maintain the objectives of the Paris Agreement. We see with our legal department”. “We need very strong measures of coercion and legislation,” he adds.
It is an established practice to leave a store door open, regardless of the weather. After all, a company whose doors were wide open would encourage the customer to step over the threshold and consume naturally. It is therefore a commercial logic that guides this practice…
While it is regrettable to have to financially punish traders to enforce common sense measures, putting an end to this practice is definitely moving in the right direction.