Legislation against unnecessary cooling

In China and France there are new laws, forbidding air conditioning plants to start before the indoor temperature exceeds +26°C. The purpose is of course to reduce the use of energy.

In China there are special energy polices, controlling that official buildings don’t use the air conditioning plants to reduce the indoor temperature below +26 °C – and they have even set up a special telephone number, where it is possible to inform the authorities if you discover someone breaking the law.

We may think whatever we want about this way of putting power behind the words, but in these countries they have realized that there will never be any change without legislation. The question is if this perhaps is needed in more countries to make a real change – at least fast enough.