The legislators form the first extreme heat caucus, citing the “deadly risk”
The first caucus of the House of Representatives to approach extreme heat is launched by a Southwest Democrat and a Northeast Republican
A construction worker in Folsom, California, during a heat wave from July 2024 who brought diurnal summits of 110 degrees Fahrenheit.
David Paul Morris / Bloomberg via Getty Images
Climatewire | An Arizona Democrat and a New York Republican are joining forces to form the Congressal Extreme Heat Caucus in order to find bipartite solutions for deadly temperatures.
“We hope that this caucus will be able to ensure that the United States is better prepared for the inevitable increase in temperatures, not only in Arizona and the Southwest, but throughout the country,” said Arizona representative, Greg Stanton (D), in an interview.
He created the Caucus with New York representative Mike Lawler, a moderate republican who jostled his party last year by expressing his support for the first proposed regulation of the country to protect heat workers by safety and health.
On the support of scientific journalism
If you appreciate this article, plan to support our award -winning journalism by subscription. By buying a subscription, you help to ensure the future of striking stories about discoveries and ideas that shape our world today.
“Extreme heat kills more Americans each year than any other meteorological event – more than 1,300 lost lives, including 570 in New York – and it is a growing threat to the Hudson valley,” Lawler said in a statement. “This is why I co-reprimanded the Heat Caucus to conduct real solutions, raise awareness and protect our communities from this deadly risk.”
Stanton said he was delighted to team up with Lawler, who understands that heat compromises health even in northern climates.
“It is from New York and I am proud that he recognizes how heat is important for workers,” he said.
The caucus will be open to house legislators who have bipartite ideas to tackle extreme heat. Note that many Republicans have criticized the heat rule proposed by the OSHA, Stanton said that the Caucus did not have to find consensus on each policy, but members should be willing to seek common ground.
“It is important to have this conversation on what we can come together and to suit us because this is how we obtain legislation in this city, even if we do not agree on the distance to follow,” he said.
Lawler and Stanton joined this spring earlier to protest against the reductions of the workforce at the Ministry of Health and Social Services which could degrade heat-related programs.
In April, the pair wrote a letter to the Secretary of Health, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Protesting the layoffs that served all the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Division of Environmental Health Science and Practice as well as the low -income energy aid program, which helps families to pay for heating and cooling.
“While we are heading for another summer – with projections suggesting that 2025 will again rank among the hottest years ever recorded, we cannot afford to limit our ability to counter the impacts of extreme heat,” they wrote in April with nine other legislators.
Among the priorities of the Caucus, there is funding from LIHEAP more uniformly distributed to the southern states to help pay the cooling assistance. The program was initially created to help families at low income payable their heating bills during the winter, and the majority of its funding still goes to the cold states.
“We had too many people at home because they are unable to access programs that would help them access air conditioning,” said Stanton.
Reprinted with E & E News With the permission of politico, LLC. Copyright 2025. E & E News provides essential news to energy and environmental professionals.
