Bodies are piling up in record heat — but Europe is still banning air conditioners

Europe is warming at an unprecedented rate. England is experiencing record-breaking temperatures this summer, with the month of June being the hottest the country has ever recorded. In the same month, Spain saw over 1,000 heat-related deaths, and in France 40 people died from drowning in one week’s time, as people rushed to bodies of water to escape the suffocating heat.

Sadly, these deaths aren’t uncommon. The World Health Organization estimates that roughly 175,000 people die from heat-related causes in Europe every year.

The irony is that Europe has some of the world’s most ambitious climate policies. Many countries have rules limiting how cold public buildings or offices can be set; energy costs price the majority out of purchasing air conditioning; and the public largely views climate change as an urgent crisis demanding immediate aggressive action.

Glenn Beck is nauseated by the number of Europeans dying from what’s an easily fixable problem.

“It’s a box in a window that blows cold air. What a crazy thought,” he scoffs, citing a study that found that “air conditioning cuts heat deaths by as much as 75%.”

“So, you would think with bodies piling up that Europe might be like, yeah, we got to get a box in every window. ... You’d think that that would be one thing everybody could agree on, but you’d be wrong,” he sighs.

Glenn plays a recent clip of British climate activist Dr. Kush Naker urging Brits to essentially ditch their gas-powered air conditioners.

“If you can switch your electricity provider to one that’s completely renewable, or you speak to your MP and tell them that we need to get off oil and gas ... those are the sorts of things that means that we can actually make our grid green and that we can actually have air con without making climate change worse,” he said.

“Good Morning Britain” anchor Richard Madeley pushed back, “But all of that would take a heck of a long time. Are you saying in the interim you shouldn’t have air con? You should wait until you can say, hand on heart, ‘Yep, it’s green energy that’s keeping me cool?’”

Despite the fact that thousands are dying from the heat, Naker — who was also addressing a mother of young children whose bedrooms are often hotter than the threshold of what’s considered safe — replied, “We need to be honest about the fact that it has costs, right? And then when we face these sorts of costs, we then need to make a decision: Well, who should we prioritize?”

“These people are out-of-their-mind nuts!” Glenn exclaims.

He then shares a harrowing story out of France, where several schoolchildren have fainted or been hospitalized from classrooms reaching over 100-degree temperatures.

In late June 2026, during a severe heat wave in Nîmes, a young pupil at École Primaire La Planette fainted in class as temperatures hit around 104 degrees F with no air conditioning.

Parents, frustrated by the conditions, crowdfunded money to buy and install AC units themselves.

“Problem solved, right? Of course not! You’re in France,” Glenn scoffs, calling the mayor of Nîmes a “communist.”

The left-wing municipality in Nîmes, led by communist Mayor Vincent Bouget, ordered the removal of the parent-funded air conditioners. The stated reason was that it “set a precedent” and created inequality, as not all neighborhoods/schools had parents with the means to do the same.

“Everybody sweats together. I just want you to know that’s not a glitch. That is the socialist philosophy. ... You’re all going to be miserable,” Glenn says.

To hear more, watch the video above.

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