It’s been an especially warm summer the Pacific Northwest, and that will drive more residents to get air conditioning in their homes and offices. In doing so, they’ll be joining in on the adoption of a technology that has reshaped America. “It enabled the sweeping postwar development of the South, where all new single-family homes today include central air. In automobiles, it made the commutes between air-conditioned homes and air-conditioned offices possible. In the Southwest, its arrival facilitated new methods of rapid construction, replacing traditional building designs that once naturally withstood the region’s desert climate.” But here’s the rub. By using air conditioners all the time, we’re contributing to the climate shifts that create the need for more air conditioners. From the NYT Upshot: How Air-Conditioning Conquered America.

+ Staff at the USDA have been told to avoid using the phrase climate change. (Exceptions will be made for staff members in places where the sea level rises above their knees.)

+ ReCode: Even with all our gadgets, Americans are using less electricity than 10 years ago.