
Edith de Guzman in WIRED: Texas’ Precarious Power Grid Exposes a Nasty Feedback Loop
Air conditioning saves lives. But as the planet warms, more AC use stresses the grid and drives up emissions, accelerating climate change. “AC is really critical—it’s absolutely life-saving,” says University of California, Los Angeles’ Edith de Guzman, director and co-founder of the Los Angeles Urban Cooling Collaborative. “We’re entering into an unprecedented period: Not only is the frequency of heat waves increasing, but the intensity, of course, is also increasing.”