Should suits, ties be mandatory during excruciating D.C. summers?

A comment to the day's weather report on capitalweather.com caught my fashion eye. Reader John Andre (I love that it's a guy...) said:

Anyone hazard a guess on whether we could get any Code Red or worse air quality next week? NRECA makes us wear standard/formal business attire for at least the period June 25-27/28 because our Board of Directors is in town for the Summer Board Meeting. To be frank, it's my opinion that business casual be MANDATORY during any spell of Code Red (unhealthy) or worse air quality. I plan to wear my tie during Code Orange, but if it hits Code Red, I plan on going business casual - and taking leave if need be!

And Ana B's later response:

I remember the days when there was no business casual, you wore a suit and tie or dress and hose whether it was 35F or 95F, smoggy or not. Why should the air quality dictate what you wear?

To read the entire, pretty boring dialog, click here...