Beating the Heat: A 2025 Heat Policy Agenda

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) and the Federation of American Scientists held a briefing about how federal policies can bolster resilience to extreme heat at the state and community level. Communities are experiencing hotter, more frequent, and more prolonged periods of record-breaking heat. Not only does extreme heat have immediate public health ramifications (heat-related deaths have more than doubled since 1999), it also exacerbates drought and wildfire risk, harms crops and livestock, and strains energy systems. Together, these impacts cost the United States an estimated $162 billion in 2024. 

This briefing highlighted the Federation of American Scientists’ 2025 Heat Policy Agenda, which outlines policy considerations for Congress and the Administration to prevent infrastructure damage, economic impacts, and loss of life from heat. Speakers described opportunities to safeguard critical infrastructure such as our energy systems, improve productivity, and improve federal and subnational coordination on heat preparedness, management, and resilience.

Highlights

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Heat is a seasonal chronic hazard, so planning and resources must be structured accordingly. Extreme heat threatens public health, agricultural productivity, and infrastructure across the country. Without a coordinated federal response to heat, countless lives and billions of dollars are at risk. The Federation of American Scientists’ Heat Policy Agenda is a comprehensive, cross-sector strategy for the federal government to tackle heat, encompassing improvements to the built environment, enhanced weather forecasting, and integration of heat preparedness into medical systems. By creating heat offices and designating heat officers, governments can work to fully integrate heat preparedness and mitigation into policies and funding streams. Federal climate and weather data underpin state and local efforts to prepare for and protect people from the deadly impacts of extreme heat.

 

Rep. Greg Stanton, U.S. Representative (D-Ariz.)

• In 2024, Arizona experienced a 159-day dry spell, 70 days above 110°F, 113 straight days of triple-digit temperatures, and 6,000 heat-related emergency room visits.
• Extreme heat threatens public health, agricultural productivity, and infrastructure across the country. Without a coordinated federal response to heat, countless lives and billions of dollars are at risk.
• Reps. Stanton and Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) launched the Congressional Extreme Heat Caucus to champion bipartisan actions to combat extreme heat, including unlocking Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funds for communities to adapt to extreme heat and ensuring low-income families can afford air conditioning during the summer.
• The bipartisan Heat Management Assistance Grant Act (H.R.3738) would allow states, local governments, and tribal communities to apply for quick-release FEMA funding to respond to extreme heat events.
• The Extreme Weather Heat Response Modernization Act (H.R.3661) would give FEMA more flexibility to expand its existing suite of mitigation measures against extreme heat.

 

Rep. Sylvia Garcia, U.S. Representative (D-Texas)

• Extreme heat will cost the U.S. economy more than $200 billion every year in lost labor productivity by 2030.
• In many rural and working-class communities, people do not have the resources to adapt to or recover from extreme heat. Federal leadership can step in to fill this resource gap.
• There has been progress made in places like Arizona, Florida, and Louisiana.
• State and local governments need grants to hire staff, such as chief heat officers and chief resilience officers.
• FEMA and the Department of Health and Human Services can modernize their approach to extreme heat to include hospitals, clinics, and healthcare systems in disaster planning, just as they would for hurricanes or wildfires.
• With extreme heat, safe housing can be the difference between life and death. There are many families in the United States without air conditioning, many seniors living in facilities without backup power, and many neighborhoods where people have nowhere to go when power goes out.
• Heat season is also storm season, so people can experience increased exposure to heat if a hurricane displaces them from their home.
• A bipartisan National Heat Commission could coordinate a national strategy to help every level of government respond effectively to heat emergencies.
• Farmers and construction workers, who work long hours in the sun, would benefit from the Construction Injury Prevention Act (H.R.785), last introduced in the 118th Congress, which would require a 15-minute paid rest break every four hours for workers.

 

Dr. Hannah Safford, Associate Director, Climate and Environment, Federation of American Scientists

• Climate change increases average temperatures. A slight change in the average temperature generates a more significant change in extremes, leading to parts of the world experiencing temperatures of up to 120°F. It also means a lot more people are more routinely experiencing 90°F and 100°F days.
• Land use changes, especially the addition of pavement and built infrastructure, exacerbate extreme heat.
• As energy demand increases on hot days, power outages become more of a risk, which then leaves people without air conditioning.
• Heat is impacting parts of the country that have never had to deal with it previously. Alaska had its first-ever heat advisory in 2025.
• Over the course of two years, the Federation of American Scientists convened hundreds of stakeholders across different sectors, including state and local government representatives, first responders, and scientists. They asked about the problems, the possible solutions, and the role of the federal government in addressing extreme heat.
• The result of this engagement is the Heat Policy Agenda, which is a comprehensive, cross-sector strategy for the federal government to tackle heat, encompassing improvements to the built environment, enhanced weather forecasting, and integration of heat preparedness into medical systems.

 

Dr. David Hondula, Director, Office of Heat Response and Mitigation, City of Phoenix; Associate Professor, School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, Arizona State University

• Heat is a seasonal chronic hazard, so planning and resources must be structured accordingly. Phoenix starts providing heat season resources on May 1 each year.
• Cities have had a hard time addressing extreme heat because people have not seen it as a core function of their job, including emergency managers. This means that even easy solutions, like putting up signage at cooling centers, get overlooked.
• By creating heat offices and designating heat officers, governments can work to codify heat preparedness and mitigation into policies and funding streams.
• In Maricopa County, Arizona, heat-related deaths have been steadily rising over the past decade, from 61 deaths in 2014 to 602 deaths in 2024. However, the implementation of Phoenix’s annual Heat Response Plan led to a decrease in heat-related deaths from 2023 to 2024.
• The Heat Response Plan focuses on first responders; public drinking water; cool and safe public spaces, homes, transportation, and recreation; heat safety for workers; community engagement; and collaboration across city departments.
• First responders are on the front lines of addressing severe heat illness and have developed innovative techniques. In Phoenix, first responders have developed a cold-water immersion technique to treat people as soon as they arrive on scene instead of waiting to cool the patient at a hospital. This new approach is saving lives.
• Phoenix’s 24/7 cooling centers provide a safe place to escape the heat, where staff can also connect people to services. They saw more than 35,000 visits from over 5,000 different people in 2024. Phoenix also experienced a 20% decrease in heat-related 911 calls.
• The 2024 Shade Phoenix Plan positions shade as a form of critical infrastructure akin to electricity and sidewalks. Federal funding and support is critical to deploying neighborhood-based shade programs.

 

Dr. Leo Bachinger, Bureau Chief, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

• In New York, there is little difference in heat-related health outcomes per capita between high-density urban areas and agriculture-centric rural areas.
• Many post-industrial cities along the Erie Canal and Hudson River have not experienced extreme heat in the past and often do not have air conditioning, creating a unique set of vulnerabilities.
• New York State has developed plans to deal with the rapidly changing heat landscape across the state. The Emergency Management Plan focuses on how the state can mobilize existing resources to support local communities. The Extreme Heat Action Plan focuses on how to build capacity through resources, tools, funding, and data to help communities pursue solutions that fit their unique circumstances.
• The Extreme Heat Action Plan coordinates across state agencies via a specific heat policy representative to carry out 49 actions spanning long-term preparedness, responses to heat islands, and implementing ecosystem-based solutions.
• 2025 is the first full year of implementation for New York’s Heat Action Plan.
• The annual readiness update, summary reports, online resources and tools, and exposure maps help communities understand how extreme heat impacts them.
• The federal HeatRisk tool is important in community-level planning and prevention.

 

Hannah Smith-Brubaker, Executive Director, Pasa Sustainable Agriculture

• Farm workers are 20 times more likely to die from heat-related illnesses than other workers. These deaths are preventable, and an important first step is for every farm to have a heat plan.
• By 2050, the number of days with a heat index above 100°F will triple, making conditions even more extreme for those who work outside, resulting in an estimated $55 billion annual loss in worker earnings.
• Changing farm practices to treat farm workers like the endurance athletes that they are can help prevent heat-related illnesses and deaths. For example, shifting or reducing work hours, encouraging pre-hydrating, having staff with emergency medical training, and taking breaks are strategies that reduce the impact of heat on farm workers. It is also key to provide information to farm workers in their first language.
• California, Colorado, Minnesota, Oregon, and Washington are the only states with worker protections for extreme heat, and there are no such protections at the federal level.
• A proposed Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) rule would create federal regulations mandating extreme heat training, rest breaks, access to shade and water, and heat safety planning.
• Safety is a smart investment because it increases worker productivity, reduces turnover, and decreases medical costs, which all increase farms’ bottom lines.
• As temperatures rise, milk yields, grain productivity, and livestock feed conversion decrease. Climate change also shifts when flowers bloom and when pollinators emerge. If they get out of sync, that will negatively impact food production.
• Silvopasture, or adding trees to livestock pastures, is a strategy for reducing the impact of heat on livestock.

 

Lawrence Luong, Federal Affairs Manager, Sacramento Municipal Utility District

• The Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) is the sixth largest community-owned utility in the United States, serving approximately 1.5 million people.
• As California experiences longer heat waves, peak summer demand for electricity is increasing, which strains the power grid.
• SMUD conducts annual planning exercises to review its Capacity/Energy Shortage Contingency Plan in order to be prepared for the summer heat season.
• On September 6, 2022, Sacramento reached a high temperature of 116°F, straining the grid and threatening rolling blackouts. By engaging in load shifting, increasing the price of electricity during peak demand, and sending out a notification to customers to reduce their electricity use, SMUD was able to decrease electricity demand by 300 megawatts in four hours during the hottest time of day.
• In addition to grid planning, SMUD has provided 630,000 shade trees, up to 10 per home, to block direct sunlight from warming houses, thereby reducing the load on the grid from air conditioners.
• SMUD is also improving Sacramento’s heat and disaster resilience by opening school-hosted community resilience centers and assisting customers in transitioning to all-electric homes.

 

Q&A

 

Q: If there were better coordination at the federal level, what would that mean for the work that is being done at the regional and state level when it comes to extreme heat?

Safford

• To effectively tackle extreme heat, there are three critical factors: knowing where and when it is going to happen, preparedness, and effective response. The federal government provides a critical role in coordination and planning that then translates to the state and local level.

Hondula

• The federal government plays an important role in convening heat stakeholders.

Bachinger

• The ability of the federal government to provide data-based tools to communities shifts how communities anticipate, plan for, and respond to the impacts of extreme heat.
• For example, HeatRisk data can help communities decide when and where to open cooling centers.

Smith-Brubaker

• The federal government has an important role in providing weather data infrastructure, science-based workplace standards, and resources for the implementation of heat plans.

Luong

• Federal coordination with municipalities and funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency made SMUD’s community resilience centers possible.
• Working with the federal government to carry out projects increases the likelihood that other communities will learn from and replicate the work.

 

Q: How are you getting community buy-in for these heat solutions, and how are you targeting and reaching priority populations?

Hondula

• The community has long demanded the types of resources we are now discussing.
• Community groups and city departments, such as overdose prevention agencies, are engaged in heat planning conversations to ensure that these public health initiatives serve the whole community.

 

Q: What is the role of at-home cooling versus a cooling center? How do swimming pools fit in this conversation?

Bachinger

• The New York Swims program provides access to swimming pools to those in historically underserved communities.
• Cooling centers are part of the solution for those who may not have access to at-home cooling options or who are unhoused.
• For at-home cooling, heat pumps, passive cooling, and coordination with utilities to manage loads can reduce the impact of extreme heat.

Safford

• Providing existing infrastructure in a community—such as schools, libraries, community centers, and places of worship—with a small amount of additional money can turn them into cooling centers.

 

Q: Earlier in 2025, the American Public Health Association put out an urgent call to restructure OSHA. How does your research, spanning from the federal to the state level, address the rework of OSHA?

Safford

• Heat should be recognized as a sustained emergency. Getting insights from the medical response capabilities of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and using federal dollars for cooling centers and health infrastructure would benefit people around the country.

Smith-Brubaker

• OSHA could be a huge help to farmers by creating a framework to think through how to keep workers safe and productive. There was a rule under review, but that process has been paused.
• The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 (P.L. 111-353) requires farmers to have plans for food safety and provides training in people’s first language. This could be a model for how the federal government could also help farms deal with heat.

 

How can governments that do not receive specific heat grants get funding for tackling heat?

Hondula

• There should be federal support for the economic analysis of heat costs.
• Building organizational awareness creates an opportunity to include heat considerations into initiatives that usually have nothing to do with heat. This is a way to find funding through existing sources.

Bachinger

• The more solutions that solve multiple problems, the better. The city of Buffalo, New York, is used to cold temperatures and has heating centers. Now, they are also using those spaces as cooling centers.
• Using existing infrastructure is helpful. The Building Resilience Against Climate Effects Framework of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention helps local health departments address extreme heat. Mobile clinics can help reach remote communities.

 

Q: How have changes in Congress, such as cuts to the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), impacted local communities?

Safford

• The executive branch has stepped away from extreme heat, but some members of Congress and local actors have stepped up. For example, members of Congress recently formed the Extreme Heat Caucus. States that have the ability to implement their own heat standards are moving forward with that process and exchanging knowledge.

Hondula

• LIHEAP is only meeting a small portion of the demand for energy assistance now, so cutting it will reduce how many people receive adequate support. Sun Belt communities have been especially disadvantaged when it comes to the distribution of LIHEAP funds.

Smith-Brubaker

• Farmers know climate has one of the biggest impacts on their farm’s success.
• Farmers are coming together to develop solutions, even without resources that had been available in the past.

Luong

• Creative solutions, like leveraging legislation focused on healthcare or housing to also fund heat work, are going to be an essential path to move this work forward.

 

Compiled by Erin Parker and Isabel Rosario-Montalvo and edited for clarity and length. This is not a transcript.