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USA Today
04-07-2025
- Climate
- USA Today
Millions don't use AC. Why Americans are turning off air conditioners this summer
About 39 million Americans don't use AC. While many can't afford it or don't need it (yet, as the planet warms), some simply don't like it. As the thermometer inside Shelley Snyder's three-story Victorian home in Columbus, Ohio, hits 88 degrees, she is finishing a meeting with a new maid service, watering plants, and doing chores. And she's doing it all without air conditioning. Snyder said she is just fine without it. Even during heat advisories, she's found ways to cope. 'We wait all winter so we can open the windows and doors and let fresh air and summer in,' she told a reporter on a day the heat index exceeded 100 degrees. Snyder is one of about 39 million Americans − roughly 12% − who don't use AC, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. While many can't afford it or don't need it because they live in cooler climates, others choose to forgo air conditioning to lower their carbon footprint. Then there are those like Snyder, who chooses to endure sweltering temperatures in her "big old house with high ceilings" and top-floor skylight windows that open. "Ceiling fans just pull the cool air out of the basement right up through the house," she said. Though air conditioning can be life saving − particularly amid record setting heat waves like the one that scorched the country in late June − some people simply don't like it, according to Gail Brager, director of the Center for the Built Environment at the University of California, Berkeley. Constant AC use can cause "experiential monotony," Brager said. 'There's nothing pleasurable about it," she said. "It's not healthy for our bodies to have the same conditions all the time, everywhere, and it's also experientially, not very interesting or necessarily comfortable.' Cooler cities and states don't need AC - yet Alaska leads the nation in going without AC, according to an analysis of U.S. Department of Energy data by University of California, Berkeley professor Lucas Davis. Just 7% of households there are air-conditioned, yet the state's temperatures are rising exponentially as the planet warms. Officials issued historic advisories during June's heat wave in Alaska, where it's warming two- to three-times faster than the global average. In the lower 48 states, the least air-conditioned city is San Francisco, where nearly 55% of homes don't have AC, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Housing Survey. Devin Carraway's home is one of them. Carraway said he's lived in the Bay Area for most of his life and heat waves are rare, thus eliminating the need for air conditioning. Even if the climate were to change, he said "AC is not going to be the first thing I do." "AC is throwing a lot of energy at a problem that needs to be solved through building design first," Carraway said. Instead, Carraway has opted to install insulation and a white roof, which absorbs less heat. He said solar panels on the roof and his neighbor's "really wonderful Monterey cypress tree," also help keep his home cool on the occasional hot days. AC out of reach, assistance under threat Many Americans simply can't afford AC due to the rising costs of summer cooling. That could put them at higher risk of heat illness and death. This summer, the average electric bill is projected to reach $784, the highest cost in at least 12 years, according to the National Energy Assistance Directors Association. Black, Hispanic and lower income households are more likely to say they don't have or don't use air conditioners due to financial challenges, according to health policy organization KFF. "Many are afraid to turn on the air conditioning because of the cost," said Mark Wolfe, executive director of NEADA. There are state and federal programs that help customers on with limited income pay their energy bills, but Wolfe said they aren't enough to meet the growing need. And the Trump administration's proposed 2026 budget would eliminate funding for one of those programs, the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). If enacted, Wolfe said nearly 6 million households may have to go without air conditioning or heat. Tuesday Adams, 56, of Cathedral City, California, may be one of them. She arrived at a county aid office June 25 clutching overdue utility bills topping $20,000 as temperatures hit 102 degrees. Southern California Edison has extended her deadline for more than a year, but she's received a disconnection notice. She said she has received LIHEAP help in the past, but tries not to ask too often. Informed about the looming elimination of all federal funds for the program, she didn't mince words. "They got to do something, they can not stop this program ... there's too many people out here really, really struggling ... a lot of families are gonna be in the dark in this heat," she said. Giving up AC to break the 'vicious cycle' of climate change Residential energy use, which includes cooling, heating and powering homes, accounts for roughly 20% of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, according to a 2020 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, a peer-reviewed scientific journal. 'It's this really vicious cycle that air conditioning is contributing to greenhouse gas emissions and global warming, and then the warming temperatures are making us need air conditioning even more,' Brager said. Stan Cox wants to break that cycle. The author of 'Losing Our Cool: Uncomfortable Truths About Our Air-Conditioned World,' deploys fans or spends time in the basement on hot days at his home in Kansas, which is shaded by trees. As a result, he used 80% less electricity than his neighbors in similarly-sized homes last June, he said citing his utility bill. He admits something of a "love-hate relationship" with the innovation. When he experienced central air as a kid in 1967, he thought he had "died and gone to heaven," but he later came to dislike the contrast between indoor cold and outdoor heat. 'I just didn't like it," he said. But Cox does turn on the AC at least once each summer "just to make sure it's still in good working order." "Or if we have people coming to dinner," he said. "Because we can't really invite people to dinner when it's 85 degrees in the house." Back in Columbus, Ohio, Snyder's neighbor has a large oak that partially shades her home in the morning. And when it does get toasty or stuffy inside, Snyder said she finds chores to do in her basement or outside. Snyder has a portable window AC unit, but she reserves it only for visitors who stay the night. She hasn't used it in 10 years. "I appreciate air conditioning like the next guy," she said. "Would I personally like to have it? Sure. I'll be 70 this year. But I've gone this long without it." Contributing: Sara Chernikoff and Sarah Elbeshbishi, USA TODAY
CBS News
10-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
"The Great Gatsby" turns 100: Initially a sales flop, now regarded as the "great American novel"
When F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote "The Great Gatsby" at the height of the roaring '20s, he couldn't possibly realize that the book would emerge as one of the very top contenders for "the great American novel." In fact, when Fitzgerald – a St. Paul, Minnesota native whose debut novel "This Side of Paradise" launched him into national prominence at the age of 24 – died in 1940 at the early age of 44, the book was already in danger of falling into obscurity. Now, 100 years after the book's first publication on April 10, 1925, it endures as one of the country's foremost tales of American hubris, modern yearning and class consciousness. And its clear-eyed assessment of the attainability of the American dream remains incisive with each passing decade. Fitzgerald's book, long a staple in high school literature classes, tells the story of Nick Carraway, a Midwesterner (and veiled Fitzgerald stand-in) who becomes enamored with the bon vivant, Jazz Age lifestyle on Long Island, specifically the effects of mutli-millioniare Jay Gatsby. Like Carraway, Gatsby is a Midwesterner who has trekked to the East Coast to make a name for himself. It's Carraway's cousin Daisy Buchanan who serves as the catalyst for Gatsby's downfall, and ultimately Carraway's own disillusionment. All the while, a symbolic green light beckons from the distance. When the book was first published, reviews were largely positive, though not unanimous. Fitzgerald, who originally wanted to title the book "Trimalchio in West Egg" before being persuaded to go with a title he thought far more generic, watched as the book languished on the vine commercially, selling fewer than 25,000 copies in the initial push. He would only complete one further novel in his lifetime: 1934's "Tender is the Night," a thinly-veiled roman à clef of Fitzgerald's own marriage to socialite Zelda Sayre, detailing their mutual descent into alcoholism and mental illness. Fitzgerald's early death from a heart attack was likely fuelled by years and years of alcohol abuse. Ironically, he'd gone sober just ahead of the cardiac event. If "The Great Gatsby" never achieved the level of esteem it now enjoys during the author's own life, it wasn't long after his death that Fitgerald's literary reputation took off. When the Modern Library asked authors, historians, critics and publishers on the eve of Y2K to rank their picks for the world's best novels of the 20th century, it was "The Great Gatsby" that stood above all other U.S. contenders near the top of the poll. (The novel landed in second place, bookended by Irish author James Joyce's "Ulysses" and "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" in the top three.) The novel has since launched multiple film adaptations, has been transposed to the stage, and since going into the public domain in 2021, has been the subject of an endless array of reimaginings, remixes and mashups. It's even cleared space around itself as a modern-day meme, in the form of an animated .GIF depicting Leonardo Dicaprio (playing Gatsby in Baz Luhrmann's 2013 film adaptation) smirking as he offers a champagne toast flanked by ostentatious fireworks. A host of "Gatsby"-themed events are planned to mark the novel's centennial anniversary, including a new exhibit of Fitzgerald's life and times at the Minnesota History Center , as well as various, less-than-sober events leaning into the novel's party-friendly Prohibition-era setting. And if you managed to get through high school without having been assigned to read the book, there are a number of live readings of the book scheduled this month, including at St. Paul's Gale Family Library .
CBS News
10-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
"The Great Gatsby" turns 100: Like Daisy to its titular character, its spell lingers through the years
When F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote "The Great Gatsby" at the height of the roaring '20s, he couldn't possibly realize that the book would emerge as one of the very top contenders for "the great American novel." In fact, when Fitzgerald – a St. Paul, Minnesota native whose debut novel "This Side of Paradise" launched him into national prominence at the age of 24 – died in 1940 at the early age of 44, the book was already in danger of falling into obscurity. Now, 100 years after the book's first publication on April 10, 1925, it endures as one of the country's foremost tales of American hubris, modern yearning and class consciousness. And its clear-eyed assessment of the attainability of the American dream remains incisive with each passing decade. Fitzgerald's book, long a staple in high school literature classes, tells the story of Nick Carraway, a Midwesterner (and veiled Fitzgerald stand-in) who becomes enamored with the bon vivant, Jazz Age lifestyle on Long Island, specifically the effects of mutli-millioniare Jay Gatsby. Like Carraway, Gatsby is a Midwesterner who has trekked to the East Coast to make a name for himself. It's Carraway's cousin Daisy Buchanan who serves as the catalyst for Gatsby's downfall, and ultimately Carraway's own disillusionment. All the while, a symbolic green light beckons from the distance. When the book was first published, reviews were largely positive, though not unanimous. Fitzgerald, who originally wanted to title the book "Trimalchio in West Egg" before being persuaded to go with a title he thought far more generic, watched as the book languished on the vine commercially, selling fewer than 25,000 copies in the initial push. He would only complete one further novel in his lifetime: 1934's "Tender is the Night," a thinly-veiled roman à clef of Fitzgerald's own marriage to socialite Zelda Sayre, detailing their mutual descent into alcoholism and mental illness. Fitzgerald's early death from a heart attack was likely fuelled by years and years of alcohol abuse. Ironically, he'd gone sober just ahead of the cardiac event. If "The Great Gatsby" never achieved the level of esteem it now enjoys during the author's own life, it wasn't long after his death that Fitgerald's literary reputation took off. When the Modern Library asked authors, historians, critics and publishers on the eve of Y2K to rank their picks for the world's best novels of the 20th century, it was "The Great Gatsby" that stood above all other U.S. contenders near the top of the poll. (The novel landed in second place, bookended by Irish author James Joyce's "Ulysses" and "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" in the top three.) The novel has since launched multiple film adaptations, has been transposed to the stage, and since going into the public domain in 2021, has been the subject of an endless array of reimaginings, remixes and mashups. It's even cleared space around itself as a modern-day meme, in the form of an animated .GIF depicting Leonardo Dicaprio (playing Gatsby in Baz Luhrmann's 2013 film adaptation) smirking as he offers a champagne toast flanked by ostentatious fireworks. A host of "Gatsby"-themed events are planned to mark the novel's centennial anniversary, including a new exhibit of Fitzgerald's life and times at the Minnesota History Center , as well as various, less-than-sober events leaning into the novel's party-friendly Prohibition-era setting. And if you managed to get through high school without having been assigned to read the book, there are a number of live readings of the book scheduled this month, including at St. Paul's Gale Family Library .
CBS News
03-04-2025
- Automotive
- CBS News
California auto racing prodigy uses car to help kids with autism
Cameron Carraway goes from zero to 60 in the blink of an eye. He doesn't flinch, doesn't hesitate, and he doesn't have a license yet. While he is 14 years old, Carraway is old enough to leave grownups in his rearview mirror. "The fastest I've ever gone was115 miles an hour, but I know I can go even faster," he told CBS News Bay Area. While his friends are still riding shotgun, Carraway's busy test-driving his future — on a track in Stockton. Carraway was six when he started and never took his foot off the gas, racing in over 200 competitions and becoming California's first Black state champ -- all before he could drive to the DMV. His coach, Eric Nascimento, said Carraway has what it takes to make it all the way to top, if he can find the funding to get him there. "You still need that sponsorship — that core foundation that's going to back you your whole career," Nascimento said. Which is why what Carraway did next was so unusual. Instead of selling his prime real estate on the hood of his car to the highest bidder he gave it away. Mizpah Rich is the co-founder of Joshua's Gift , a nonprofit named after her son that supports families living with autism. Even though Carraway isn't on the spectrum, Rich said he is inspiring neurodivergent children to believe in themselves. "He's an incredible role model," Rich told CBS News Bay. "We have other kids now [saying}, 'I want to be a racer driver' because they see him." Carraway's parents, Ray and April, say watching him race can be nerve racking, but the track has taught him something far more important than speed. "You give to give, so we try to instill that in him as parents," Ray Carraway said.
