The less you run the AC, the less money you pay, so it makes sense to keep the set point as high as possible during the summer. If it runs a minimal amount but dehumidifies the indoor air, then you can be pretty comfortable at slightly warmer temperatures.
The price of energy isn't high enough to curb people's consumption to a sustainable level or truly pay for the long term costs to the world, but that's a whole bag of worms. If the rest of the world (India, Europe, etc.) consumed the amount of energy that USA consumes on air conditioning alone, we would be in big trouble fast.