Texas prisons and AC

Regarding “Lethal heat” (Page A14, Thursday), here we go again with your editorial making fun of people like me who grew up without air conditioning and trying to make a case for prison AC. Our manufacturing company has employees in our warehouse, and the warehouse has no AC. Like millions of

businesses nationwide, our warehouse has big fans that create a comfortable environment. Why can’t prisoners use personal fans in their cells just like the rest of us honest working people in the warehouse at our work stations?

In a prison, guards can open the main doors leading to the recreation area and have huge floor fans to suck air into the building as we do in our business. At the back of our building are exhaust fans creating a cross-ventilation that is distributed by other floor fans in our warehouse. Our employees work eight hours daily in the hottest part of the day and offer no complaints. Problem solved.

The editorial says an inmate is dormant, can’t get up and go outside for fresh air, etc. Being dormant conserves energy and does not make one hotter. Working hard on lathes, mills, stacking and loading makes you hotter than lying on a bunk bed in prison with a personal fan.

The expense of fans vs. AC is at least 90-plus percent less in both capital and electric costs.

Harry L. Bowles, Houston