Grid Straining, Heat Index At 110 - But Ask People To Turn Up The AC A Bit To Prevent Power Failures? "Socialism!!!!" [View all]

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Last edited Sun Jul 5, 2026, 09:56 AM - Edit history (1)

Seeking to sow unity amid a pending heat crisis, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani reaped a whirlwind of right-wing rage. Mamdani’s post on X on Wednesday urged New Yorkers to turn their thermostats to 78 degrees F and turn off unneeded lights and electronics—nothing original. It echoed the advice of the state’s largest utility, ConEd, which also asked customers to limit air conditioning in a Tuesday press release. “Let’s ease demand — and get through the heat — together,” Mamdani wrote.

“Welcome to socialism,” shot back Nikki Haley, the former Republican governor, diplomat and presidential aspirant. Reader-provided context beneath Haley’s post noted that she had made a similar plea for conservation during a 2015 cold snap when she was South Carolina’s chief executive. They also pointed out that former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, a Republican, urged an identical 78-degree limit on AC during a 1999 heat wave.

But in 2026, GOP commentators could not resist the urge to attribute Mamdani’s conservation plea to his politics, as the first democratic socialist mayor of New York.“This is what socialism looks like, folks,” posted Vivek Ramaswamy, entrepreneur and GOP ally of President Donald Trump who is running for Ohio governor. “The right answer isn’t restrictions or mandates. It’s drilling, fracking, coal, & nuclear.”

And yet, the heat dome covering much of the nation on the eve of its 250th birthday celebration laid bare the limits of the all-out energy production policy that the Trump administration has pursued. Even with most forms of U.S. energy production (except for coal) at record levels, electric grid operators throughout the central and eastern United States were engaged in emergency load reduction actions—such as powering down large business consumers—in order to relieve the significant strain as households seek more power for cooling. The National Weather Service predicted “dangerous and record-breaking heat” across more than 20 states, with 165 million people living in areas facing “major” or “extreme” heat risk.

EDIT

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/02072026/new-york-heat-wave-politics/