A coalition of organizations is calling on the Federal Emergency Management Agency to add extreme heat and smoke from wildfires to the list of scenarios worthy of being declared a major disaster.
Dozens of environmental, health and labor groups petitioned FEMA on Monday in an effort to free up FEMA funds that have historically been used to respond to disasters such as floods, earthquakes and hurricanes that damage infrastructure.
The groups, which include AFL-CIO, Friends of the Earth and the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments, argue the move would help areas prepare for heat waves and wildfire smoke by helping fund cooling centers or air filtration systems in schools.
As things stand, states and local communities are largely on their own in battling the extreme heat, which kills more Americans every year than hurricanes, floods and tornadoes combined. Unpleasant the National Weather Service.
The death certificates of more than 2,300 people who died in the US last year mention the effects of excessive heat. That's the highest number in 45 years of record keeping, according to the Associated Press analysis from data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Labor groups and the White House have done so advocated that the Ministry of Labor publishes a draft heat regulation, because millions of people work outside or without air conditioning. Major companies and industry groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, oppose new rules.
The impact of extreme heat on workers is particularly acute in states like Texas, according to a union behind the petition.
“The impact of the climate crisis, coupled with Texas being the most dangerous state to work in, makes the damaging impact of heat and wildfires an increasingly serious threat to all Texans,” said Margarita Del Cid, Workers Member and Leader Defense Dallas. in a rack. “In Texas, one construction worker dies every three days and a big factor in these deaths is heat, whether it be heat stroke or hyperthermia or, in some cases, long-term illness.”
The 1988 Stafford Act allows the federal government to declare a disaster or emergency, but does not specifically include extreme heat on a list of sixteen causes. FEMA can respond to requests for federal assistance when states and localities need the extra help, and there is nothing specific in the Stafford Act that precludes a declaration for extreme heat, the agency said.
