The U.S. Olympic team is one of a handful that will supply air conditioners for their athletes at the Paris Games in a move that undercuts organizers’ plans to cut carbon emissions.

U.S. Olympic and Paralympic CEO Sarah Hirshland said Friday that while the U.S. team appreciates efforts aimed at sustainability, the federation would be supplying AC units for what is typically the largest contingent of athletes at the Summer Games.

“As you can imagine, this is a period of time in which consistency and predictability is critical for Team USA’s performance,” Hirshland said. “In our conversations with athletes, this was a very high priority and something that the athletes felt was a critical component in their performance capability.”

The Washington Post reported earlier this month that Germany, Australia, Italy, Canada and Britain were among the other countries with plans to bring air conditioners to France.

  • Aniki 🌱🌿@lemm.ee
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    5 months ago

    It was far more nuanced than that. They also wanted their own lane on 91 so they wouldn’t have to deal with Boston traffic.

    https://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/2015/06/30/boston-2024-olympic-lanes/

    https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/30/sports/olympics/bostons-revised-24-bid-criticized-as-incomplete.html?_r=0

    • “Mass media encouraging citizens and tourists to use public transportation and carpooling”
    • “Flexible hours at local businesses”
    • “Rerouting long-haul trucking around the city”
    • “Intelligent highway systems technology”
    • “Manually-controlled traffic lights”
    • “New one-way streets in busy areas to create better flow”

    Never been more proud to go tell the IOC to go fuck themselves with a huge cactus.

    • catloaf@lemm.ee
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      5 months ago

      Those all sound like good things, though. There shouldn’t be an interstate right through downtown. And god knows transportation in Boston is a mess and desperately needs work.

      • AA5B@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Right, plus in the context of not building new stuff for a temporary need

        • too bad they didn’t know how easy it would be for so many of us to work from home
        • roping off a lane may offend our egalitarianism, but it’s a temporary change
        • even if we had to build new lanes, they would sure as hell get used (especially since there’s never enough capacity on the T)