After a historically hot summer with extreme heat events that killed hundreds of people in the Pacific Northwest, New Orleans, and elsewhere, the Biden administration is taking action to protect Americans from extreme heat at work and at home. On Monday, the White House announced that it will start the process of creating a first-of-its-kind national heat standard for workers and promoted several other initiatives to increase access to cooling for the most vulnerable members of society.
“Rising temperatures pose an imminent threat to millions of American workers exposed to the elements, to kids in schools without air conditioning, to seniors in nursing homes without cooling resources, and particularly to disadvantaged communities,” President Joe Biden said in a statement.
Extreme heat kills more than 600 people in the United States every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC. Outdoor workers, such as those in construction and agriculture, are particularly at risk, although the plight of overheated warehouse workers has also been well documented. But heat-related deaths are widely understood to be undercounted, since heat c... Read more
