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Climate extremists are ruining the Olympics

by Liz Peek, opinion contributor - 06/28/24 12:00 PM ET

Will the climate zealots eager to deface iconic artwork, glue themselves to roadways or hassle tournament golfers next attack the Olympics? Sadly, they might.

After all, the knuckleheads in charge of managing the games have opened the door, lamenting the carbon emissions produced by their own event.

Every four years, people from across the globe come together, virtually or in person, to celebrate the world’s most astounding athletes. Putting politics and geopolitical rivalries aside, fans cheer on the top figure skaters, hammer throwers, tennis players, soccer goalies, swimmers, pole vaulters, baseball teams, equestrians – everyone from every nation is applauded. It is a rare spectacle of global goodwill toward those who have worked so hard to be the very best.

It is also a fun breather from all the animosities and political nastiness that pervades so much of our daily discourse.

That is, up until now.

This year, the Olympics are embroiled in one of the hottest (no pun intended) issues of our day: climate change. The Olympic Committee is very concerned, along with the French hosts of this year’s summer games, that the event will spew excess carbon emissions, and they are determined to limit what they consider a special self-indulgence.

They are worried that people traveling to enjoy the games will burn aviation fuel, that building new venues will waste precious resources and that the construction will create even more pollution. To that end, they are doing everything possible to drive down the carbon footprints left by the sprinters and golfers.

In doing so, they may well make life miserable for the athletes and the fans.

The organizers of the games have pledged that the 16-day extravaganza will generate less than half the carbon emissions of the Olympics held four years ago. To achieve that, the planners have figured out ways to reduce electricity consumption and fuel, some of them extremely unpopular. For instance, they are eliminating air conditioning in the Olympic Village, prompting a revolt among the athletes from several nations, including, I’m proud to say, the U.S.

Participants from the U.S. are planning on bringing their own A/C units, fearful that sleeping through Parisian temperatures that frequently run into the 80s or even low 90s will cut down on their performance. (In late July 2019, Paris suffered a hot spell during which the temperature spiked to 105 degrees.)

While praising the Paris hosts for their concern about sustainability, U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee CEO Sarah Hirshland said, defending our athletes’ rogue appetite for A/C, “this was a very high priority and something that the athletes felt was a critical component in their performance capability.”

The U.S. team is not alone. Participants from Australia, Canada, Denmark, Great Britain, Greece and Italy are also hauling their own cooling equipment into the village, despite assurances from the International Olympic Committee that the housing units, built to face away from the sun during summer days, would be plenty cool.

The revolt follows a study by a Harvard researcher, recently reviewed by the New York Times, showing that high temperatures not only make people “miserable” but also “aggressive, impulsive and dull” — tributes that surely would not bolster performance in the pool or on the pitch. The test was conducted among young, healthy people who were exposed to temperatures about the same as likely to prevail in Paris.

The Olympic Commitee is also helping control emissions by providing less meat in the athletes’ diet, and also in the food available to spectators. Philipp Wurz, manager of food offerings at the games, boasted recently that “60 percent of the recipes for the general public will be vegetarian. … It is with immense pride that we can announce that all the food options at La Concorde (the Place de la Concorde, one of the venues) will be 100 percent vegetarian.” Apparently this was no mean feat: Wurz reports that the menu is “a first in the history of the Games and the result of four years of work.”

What will that look like? Expect, according to one chef involved, meat-free hot dogs, falafels, and plant-based tuna. What it will taste like is another matter. This being France, the chef is also providing a plant-based version of beef bourguignon, a veritable stake through the heart of Paul Bocuse, one of France’s most celebrated chefs, who died in 2018 after proclaiming, “Every respectable meal should always end with meat.”

The menus also exclude avocados because the popular fruits “are imported from a great distance and consume a lot of water,” according to one of the chefs. Perhaps the worst news of all for the athletes: no French fries available anywhere.

Sports fans will not only struggle to find steak tartare or a veal paillard at the games, they will also eat their lentils mostly without air conditioning, as only two of the venue’s six restaurants will offer cooling. At a “test” of the new menu and systems, people were “visibly sweating” in the 80-degree heat. No kidding.

The Olympic Committee has also determined that the athletes will sleep on the same tiny beds used at the Tokyo Olympics, the frames of which are made of recycled cardboard. Rumors that the beds were designed to cut down on sex in the village have been squashed by the authorities; they claim the bed choice is all about sustainability.

Climate extremists would like to see the Olympics in the future distributed all over the world, so as to minimize jet fuel consumption and the building of new venues. That would destroy the marvelous and rare feeling of community that the games create. What’s next, banning the Olympic torch? Don’t laugh — it’s being discussed.