Biden, mayors from Phoenix and San Antonio join to launch initiative combating extreme heat

Extreme heat is cooking many regions in the United States. Last month, San Angion hit an all-time record heat index height of 117. Puerto Rico reached 125. Phoenix has seen 110-plus temperatures for nearly a month straight. And ocean temperatures near Miami recently crested 100 degrees Fahrenheit. 

“Even those who deny that we’re in the midst of a climate crisis can’t deny the impact that extreme heat is having on Americans. Americans like an elderly woman in Phoenix who fell out of her wheelchair and, after five minutes on the ground, had third-degree burns,” said President Joe Biden in a statement announcing new actions taken to protect workers from extreme heat. Biden spoke alongside Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and Ron Nirenberg, mayor of San Antonio, Tx.

The new actions include a first-ever heat hazard alert by the Department of Labor, which reaffirms heat-related protections workers have under federal law. Additionally, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is investing “up to $7 million from President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act to improve our nation’s weather forecasts,” an explainer from the White House says. Working alongside universities, NOAA will create a Data Assimilation Consortium that’s focused on developing its weather-prediction capabilities.

Coinciding with NOAA’s efforts, the Department of the Interior will invest $152 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to expand water storage and enhance climate resilience in California, Colorado, and Washington. The initiative will lay water piping to areas that are most impacted by drought, and expand safe drinking water storage.

“There is a new reality that cities must confront each summer due to climate change. Mayors everywhere are springing to action and devoting resources to help keep people safe during these periods of extreme heat, but we can’t do it alone,” said Hillary Schieve, mayor of Reno, Nev. and president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors in a statement. “The actions announced will help us today and into the future as we continue to face these extreme temperatures. We also know that the ultimate solution is addressing climate change head on, as mayors across America are doing.”

In his statement, Biden estimated that extreme heat is already costing the nation $100 billion annually. The people hit the hardest are the most vulnerable: seniors, those experiencing homelessness, and disadvantaged communities that aren’t able to recover from climate disasters. More than 400 workers have died nationwide since 2011 because of environmental heat exposure. Thousands more have been hospitalized. 

Biden also unveiled Heat.gov, a website with information on how to cope with the heat wave and address related problems, according to a statement from Nirenberg’s office. 

“San Antonio is certainly thankful for a president that’s willing to tackle this urgent crisis in an equitable fashion,” Nirenberg said in the statement.