Current:Home > ScamsBiden rolled out some new measures to respond to extreme heat as temperatures soar -EliteFunds
Biden rolled out some new measures to respond to extreme heat as temperatures soar
View
Date:2025-04-12 19:13:49
President Biden on Thursday announced new actions aimed at protecting communities from extreme heat, and meeting with mayors from two cities grappling with high temperatures.
Biden directed the Department of Labor to issue a hazard alert for dangerous conditions in industries like agriculture and construction, where workers face a greater risk of injury and death from extreme heat — and the department plans to boost inspections in those sectors, he said.
"For the farm workers, who have to harvest crop in the dead of night to avoid the high temperatures, or farmers who risk losing everything they planted for the year, or the construction workers, who literally risk their lives working all day in blazing heat, and in some places don't even have the right to take a water break," Biden said. "That's outrageous."
Biden noted some 600 people die from extreme heat each year - "more than from floods, hurricanes and tornadoes in America combined."
"Even those places that are used to extreme heat have never seen as hot as it is now for as long as it's been," he said. "Even those who deny that we're in the midst of a climate crisis can't deny the impact of extreme heat is having on Americans."
The president also highlighted $152 million for water storage and pipelines for drought-stricken communities in western states, and $7 million for improving weather forecasts.
The announcement came on a day when Washington, D.C., is under a heat advisory. Biden was joined in a virtual meeting at the White House by the mayors of Phoenix and San Antonio to discuss the impacts of the extreme weather conditions on their cities.
In Phoenix, temperatures have been over 110 F for 27 days in a row. San Antonio is in the midst of a record-breaking heat index high of 117 F.
Some climate activists said the measures are incremental
Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego called on Congress to give Biden the ability to declare extreme heat a disaster, which would enable cities like hers to tap into more Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funding to help with the response.
"We're working to out-innovate climate change, but we need to work together to make sure all of us are on deck to address it," Gallego said. "We need a whole-of-government approach."
Meanwhile, climate activists have urged Biden to use his emergency powers to take bolder measures to restrict fossil fuel production.
"Real relief won't come until Biden confronts the culprit of deadly fossil fuels," said Jean Su, energy justice director at the Center for Biological Diversity, who called the new announcements "incremental."
"Biden has extraordinary powers to protect Americans from more apocalyptic heat, floods and storms by phasing out the oil and gas that are driving these disasters," Su said.
The White House has emphasized Biden's track record on investing in clean energy through last year's Inflation Reduction Act.
"He's taken more action, has been more aggressive on dealing with climate change than any other president," press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Wednesday.
"He has an ambitious agenda to deal with climate change, and he's going to move forward with that agenda," she said.
veryGood! (777)
Related
- Juan Soto praise of Mets' future a tough sight for Yankees, but World Series goal remains
- How Gender-Free Clothes & Accessories From Stuzo Clothing Will Redefine Your Closet
- How Trump’s New Trade Deal Could Prolong His Pollution Legacy
- The story behind the flag that inspired The Star-Spangled Banner
- Travis Hunter, the 2
- 1.5 Degrees Warming and the Search for Climate Justice for the Poor
- Prince Harry Chokes Up on Witness Stand Amid Phone-Hacking Case
- Jon Gosselin Addresses 9-Year Estrangement From Kids Mady and Cara
- Bodycam footage shows high
- Election 2018: Clean Energy’s Future Could Rise or Fall with These Governor’s Races
Ranking
- Tree trimmer dead after getting caught in wood chipper at Florida town hall
- Second bus of migrants sent from Texas to Los Angeles
- Vanderpump Rules' Raquel Leviss Turns on Tom Sandoval and Reveals Secret He Never Wanted Out
- Power Plants’ Coal Ash Reports Show Toxics Leaking into Groundwater
- Trump's 'stop
- Lionel Messi Announces Move to Major League Soccer, Rejecting $400 Million Offer From Saudi Arabia
- Biden Takes Aim at Reducing Emissions of Super-Polluting Methane Gas, With or Without the Republicans
- Stormi Webster Is All Grown Up as Kylie Jenner Celebrates Daughter’s Pre-Kindergarten Graduation
Recommendation
'Most Whopper
Melissa Rivers Shares What Saved Her After Mom Joan Rivers' Sudden Death
With an All-Hands-on-Deck International Summit, Biden Signals the US is Ready to Lead the World on Climate
Proposed rule on PFAS forever chemicals could cost companies $1 billion, but health experts say it still falls short
Military service academies see drop in reported sexual assaults after alarming surge
Exxon and Oil Sands Go on Trial in New York Climate Fraud Case
All-transgender and nonbinary hockey team offers players a found family on ice
Czech Esports Star Karel “Twisten” Asenbrener Dead at 19